Lucid Dreams
by Karelia Jones
Summary: Life is an interplay between dreams and reality, when one haunts the other saves. SasuNaruSasu *rewrite of Dreams and Reality*
1. Prologue Pt 1

**Hey, So this is a rewrite of Dreams vs. Reality because I just couldn't get the story to go where I wanted it to. The first six chapters of this fic will be relatively the same with more detail but after that the story changes. Hope you guys like it! **

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_Sasuke wanted to scream, his mouth was open both in preparation to do so and horror at the scene before him but for some reason the sound was lodge in his throat. His eyes roved his parent's room, the eggplant walls splattered with red, the once comforting smell of jasmine and honey overpowered by the sharp metallic stench of blood. He wanted to run as fast as he could from the house but he was held in place by the look on their faces, their cold dead eyes still able to glare at him in hatred and accusation. He could feel their disappointment and rage, even in death his fathers disappointment cut him like a knife. _

_Unable to stand it anymore he turned and ran down the hall to his brother's room. His panicked mind reverting back to when he was younger and would always rely on his brother to make whatever problem or pain he had to go away. __**Itachi will make it better**__ a line that he remembered thinking over and over again as a child became his mantra now. His old hero worship resurfacing and assuring him that there was some way his genius older brother could fix this. He pushed open the door but his brother was nowhere to be found. His laptop was open but in sleep mode, coffee still on his desk with books scattered around it with pencils and highlighter lying haphazardly on top of them. It looked like he had just stepped away to the bathroom, like he'd come back and study at any moment, as if their parents weren't laying dead in their own blood only three steps up the hall. _

'_Aniki' he called voice breaking but was greeted only by silence, **where would he be**? Their parents had been attacked! Where would he have gon- He turned slowly to look at his own door, still shut as he had left it. The scene normal which made it feel even more out of place. Slowly he walked toward it, a part of him screaming in his head to turn back, that he didn't want to see what was behind that door. But he kept going as if in a trance, his fingers gripping the door knob of their own accord and twisting. The door swung open and almost instantly he fell to his knees and stated gagging. Blood was everywhere, splattered across his blue walls, soaked into his comforter turning the dark sheets even darker. The absence of an actual body present not taking away from the feel of death in the room. But the worse part was the trail leading out the window. The window that he had left opened. That must have been… No. Once again he was screaming but this time he couldn't shut it off. No he couldn't have been responsible… Was he responsible?! His hands came up to press against his skull his eyes wide breathing ragged the crushing weight of his guilt and rage pouring down on him making it harder and harder to breath. _

_No. No they couldn't have gotten Itachi too, not Itachi. He pushed from the floor and opened the window wider before jumping out, ignoring the disgusting feeling of blood on his hands and soaking into his pants as he pushed through. Hitting the ground at a dead run he took off, following the visible blood trail into the woods behind their house while trying to shut off the voice in his brain telling him that no one could survive losing so much. He was gasping for air and running so fast the passing branches tore at his clothes and skin but he no longer cared, he didn't even feel their stings. The pain was nothing in comparison to all the other emotions coursing through his body. He didn't know how long he ran following the trail until he could barely make it out in the dark. The dark stain of blood had becoming only drops here and there. Squinted in the dark for any sign of his brother he didn't notice the root sticking up from the ground until it was too late. his foot caught and he fell to the ground rolling and slamming his back into a tree so hard his body bent around it. The force of impact knocking the air from his lungs so all he could do was lie there in the dirt wheezing. Groaning he curled forward into a ball trying to stretch his abused spinal muscles which twitched in pain. Determined to find his brother no matter what he ignored it as he pushed to his hands and knees, he was just about to get to his feet when he saw something in the corner of his eye. Freezing in place he turned his head slowly his eyes fixing on the shiny object that captured his attention. Everything froze before once again his lungs completely emptied themselves of air, only to be followed by his stomach releasing everything he had eaten that day hell maybe that week on the grass before him. There in the dirt was Itachi's watch, the watch that had been his fathers and his fathers before that, the watch that Itachi had never taken of his wrist. The wrist that it was still attached to, complete with the hand and part of the arm. Both of which were no longer connected to a body. He felt strangely numb, his ears ringing and the edges of his vision started to haze, but he felt disconnected from it all. He was aware of his arms giving out from underneath him, aware that he was currently lying in a pool of his own vomit, aware that his heart felt like it was about to break out of his chest, but he couldn't bring himself to care. As the world darkened around him he couldn't help but wish that he would wake up and this would only be a dream. He smiled to himself, yea this is only a nightmare, __**all I have to do is wake up**__. _

He shot up gasping for air, pulling at the wires he felt taped to his nose and wincing when he felt a sharp tug on his arm. What the hell? He glanced around wild eyed at the white walls with plastic folded chairs lined up neatly against them an annoying beeping sound ringing in his ears. The noise was almost drowned out by the escalation of his breathing leaving him in loud jerky gasps, he wasn't stupid he knew he was in a hospital the question was why? What the hell had happened? Where was his family?

Flashes of angry accusing eyes, open windows, detached limbs and blood stained walls played in rapid secession through his mind. No. It was all a dream! A nightmare! Screaming and grabbing his head he folded in on himself. Or at least he tried the tubing was restraining him, feeling claustrophobic he tore the tubes from his nose and went to work on his IV his fingernails leaving bloody trails on his forearm caused by his frantic clawing and pulling. The doors bust open and he looked up gaze clashing with a pair of honey colored eyes.

"Mr. Uchiha stop what you're doing this insistent" She barked her tone commanding and in any other circumstance he would of obeyed but panic was clouding his judgment, reducing him down to the basic flight or fight response and all he wanted to do was run back home hide in his covers and pretend none of this had ever happened. An image of what his covers had looked like the last time he had seen them appeared in his head increasing his panic. He continued to pull ignoring the pain it caused, almost relishing in it, dismissing the nurse from his mind. He felt cold hands grasping his arm and pulling it away from body pining it to the sheets before repeating the same action with the other. He dimly heard her calling for assistance her yells almost drowned out by his own cries for his family but it was like his head was under water everything was muffled and far away. He thrashed against her hold using all of his considerable thirteen year old strength to break free. Before long there were more hands which only increased his struggle, then there was a sharp prick in his arm followed by a burning sensation, he felt his muscle go lax against his will but the panic was still there in his mind, his heart racing. As his vision faded he looked up into the honey colored eyes that were filled with sadness

I'm so sorry kid. A hand on his forehead softly pushing back his hair and then nothing.

~0.0.0~

It was much harder to open his eyes this time. It felt like they had been weighed down with lead. It took an embarrassing long time but he eventually got them open hoping against hope that he would see his posters and bed sheets but a quick glance around only showed white walls and he had to push down the sobs he felt in his throat. Staring at the ceiling with blurry eyes he tried with all his might not to wish his mother was here to fuss over him, his father sternly lecturing the staff about their techniques and intimidating them with his glare, Itachi flicking him on his forehead

Foolish little brother.

Fuck it was useless, the tears were down his face and soaking into the mattress before he even realized he was crying.

"Sasuke, It's alright to cry" He gasped his head snapping to the side. Kakashi was there, his hands absent of their usual porn novel showing more than any facial expression how much the situation had effected him. Next to him leaning against the wall was Shisui, arms crossed watching him with a weird guarded expression. They all silently stared at each other, Sasukes face still wet with his tears, Kakashis hard and hidden behind his mask, Shisui eyes red rimmed. The room hung in silence for a moment longer before his cousin broke it "I'm so sorry. Something like this it… there's no getting over it" Sasuke was silent, if he opened his mouth he wasn't sure what would come out. With a sigh he continued "I want you to know that, I'm here for you. If you need anything at all… we'll get through this somehow" His voice broke at the end and he glanced down at the floor. Sasuke watched as he tried to blink his tears away, he and Itachi had been close, they were best friends finishing each other's sentences communicating without words. Sasuke supposed it was almost like he lost a brother as well.

"Where will I go?" His voice was raspy and broken. Not a hint of emotion or inflection in it. Kakashi and Shisui exchanged a quick glance

"You'll be staying with me, I was named your guardian" Kakashi watched him closely Sasuke knew he was looking for a reaction but he wouldn't find it. Sasuke merely nodded looking up toward the ceiling again. He heard them shuffle awkwardly

"Visiting hours are almost over, they want to keep you over night for observation. They're worried about possible…trauma. I'll be back first thing in the morning" Kakashi stood slowly dusting off his pants and going to the door, he paused "I'm here for you. You're not alone." With that he was gone. Shisui stayed a little longer, Sasuke could feel his eyes trained on him before he pushed away from the wall. He approached the bed slowly, like he was approaching a wild animal. A spike of irritation ran through him

"If you have something you want to say then just say it" Again his voice was flat, giving away none of the pain he felt.

"I just… I don't know what to do here. I never thought… I don't know how to help, there is no way to make this better. But I swear to you that I will catch the sons of bitches that did this. If it's the last thing I do" He felt a hand on his shoulder squeezing slightly before he turned to leave.

"Shisui" His cousin paused by the foot of his bed, one arm propped up and gripping the door frame his body still angled toward Sasuke.

"Yes"

"I need to know something"

"Yes" Sasuke paused wondering if there was any way he could get by with not knowing. But he knew that he had to know, it would drive him crazy if he didn't

"That arm… was it Itachi's? Was he really…" Silence greeted his question, Shisui turned fully around his eyes wide and ran a hand through his hair. One of his tells when he was uncomfortable.

"Sasuke… how do you know about that?"

"I saw it" He was confused, didn't they find him out in the woods next to- his stomach rolled at the image and he quickly thought about something else.

"You… how? You... you were on your front porch unconscious. How could you have…?" Shisui was giving him a strange look, one Sasuke couldn't identify. Hell he was confused himself, last thing he remembered he had passed out on the forest floor

"Doesn't matter. Was Itachi…. Was it his?" He couldn't get the words out but judging by the look on his cousins face he didn't have too. "Please. I need to know" Shisui sighed his fingers tightening around the door frame. It was cruel what he was about to do, it went against his better judgment considering how unstable Sasuke seemed at the moment, but it had to be done. Considering how high profile this case was he knew he would found out the details eventually, maybe it was better that it came from him.

"I'm sorry Sasuke… yes it was Itachi. One of the pieces we were able to find" The last part was whispered but it felt loud in the silent room. Sasuke chest convulsed, his eyes squeezing shut. "I'm so sorry" he whispered the door closing softly behind him. Hot tears once again tracked down his face and he briefly wondered how he had enough water to cry this much. God he wished they were here, all of them. If he kept his eyes closed he could almost pretend they were, that this was all a dream.

But it only made the pain worse every time he remembered that it wasn't.

Resolute he opened them, blankly staring at the ceiling above him as he pushed all thoughts of his family away.

This was his new reality. He might as well get used to it.

~`0.0.0~


	2. Prologue Pt 2

_He was running, he knew he was, he could feel the wind against his face the burn in his legs the gasping of his lungs. But he might as well have been moving in slow motion. Skidding to a stop he turned in a full circle seeing nothing but trees all around him. Why was he running? For the life of him he couldn't remember. Had something been chasing him? Had he been chasing something? Feeling lost and disoriented he leaned against a tree and glanced up at the sky, dark and riddled with stars. _

'_Sasuke' gasping his head snapped down, gaze landing on a figure moving toward him. _

'_Whose there?' He straightened and took a step back around the tree, muscles tensing as he prepared to fight. _

'_Foolish little brother. Do you think you could take me?' Finally the figure was close enough to make out._

'_Itachi' his brother smiled. He waked toward him slowly his arm raised and out stretched his two fingers already pointed. Sasuke was in too much shock to do anything about the poke he knew was coming. Just as his fingers were about to make contact there was a thud. Sasuke's eyes widen taking in his brothers smiling face, before they slowly lowered to the ground. There laying the dirt was an arm, blood still spilling from the end that used to be attached to his brother. Screams clawed from his throat as he looked at the arm and then intensified when the rest of Itachi disintegrated before him. He stumbled back trying to get away when something latched onto his ankle. Itachi's hand moving separate from the body. Thrown off balance he fell back, the ground rushing up to meet hi-_

He sat up in his bed, breathing fast his heart slamming against his rib cage as he looked around the room. He took in the unfamiliar white walls, the absence of his poster and pictures, the suitcases still by the door. He stared at them for a moment longer before he remembered where he was. Leaning forward and putting his head in his hands, and went through the checklist

He was at Kakashis. Check

His parents were dead. Check

Itachi was dead. Check

He was alone.

Check

His hands began to feel wet though he didn't remember when he started to cry. He was so sick of crying, sick of having these dreams, bringing him back to that night. He just wanted to forget everything but instead his nightmares were in painstaking detail taking him to areas that he hadn't even traveled in real life. According to the police report they had found him pass out on the front porch of his house with the door wide open. Best they could tell he had never jumped out of the window to follow Itachi, his brain had shut down after opening the door to his room and he ran out of his house and passed out from shock until the neighbors found him and called the police. None of it made sense to him, he could've sworn that he had followed the trail of blood out into the woods, he could still feel the sting of branches against his skin and the sound of leaves crunching under his feet. But his clothes had been absent of blood, his shirt and face were clear of the vomit he remembered-_**thought**_ he had passed out in. Nothing on him suggested that he had done more than go inside see what had been done then shut down. Well nothing except for his knowledge of Itachis dismemberment, something Shisui had told him to keep quiet. Why, he didn't know but he had followed his advice and hadn't told a single soul about what he thought had happened that night. He knew it was a good thing that he hadn't gone into the woods, if he had who knows when they would've found him. If it would have been before some animal happened upon him attracted by the blood or the murders of his family returned and finished the job. Still he wished he really would have followed, wished it with all his heart. Then maybe he could have found his brother or maybe...

maybe they could have killed him too.

Falling back on his bed he stared at the ceiling. As if he would have went after his brother, he was a coward and he was the reason they were dead. He was the one who deserved to be dead, he was the fuck up of the family. Why wasn't he dead? Feeling the familiar panic attack coming on he closed his eyes and slowed his breathing as he counted backward slowly from ten.

_He opened his eyes, blinking when he only saw darkness with spots of white above him. He blinked again when the spots wouldn't go away... was that? Strangely calm he turned his head side to side and looked at the trees surrounding him, he was back in the woods. He looked around quickly for any evidence of blood or -god forbid- a body part of his brothers. Finding the area around him empty he let out a sigh of relief. Relief that was short lived when he realized that he had absolutely no clue where in the woods he was or how it get back. He started to push to his feet when another thought struck him. Did he even really want to go back? What was he going back too? He had no family, his friends walked on eggshells around him, Kakashi was always looking at him with pity and sadness in his eyes. Did he really want to go back to that? Back to being alone? Pushing back until he hit a tree he drew his knees up to his chest with his face pressed against them. Why? Why had they all died? Why had they all died and left him here as the only person to mourn them? Why couldn't he save them? _

'_Hey' Sasuke head snapped up and he immediately found himself looking into a pair of brilliantly blue eyes. He closed his eyes in surprise but when he opened them the boy was still there. Sasuke hurried up and wiped his face trying to get rid of any evidence that he had been crying. He glared at the boy trying to figure out what he was doing here in the forest. _

'_What are you doing here?' He hissed more out of embarrassment then actual anger. The boy just smiled _

'_I come here often but this is my first time seeing someone else hanging around. I think that means were supposed to be friends' Sasuke blinked how had he come to that conclusion? _

'_I don't need any more friends, I'm happy on my own' He snapped, the boy leaned back on his heels and turned his head to the side, a gesture that Sasuke would soon come to associate as his 'thinking' face. As he studied him, Sasuke took the time to observe his strange and somewhat unwanted companion, the boy appeared to be about his age with brilliantly blue eyes and stunning golden blonde hair, but his most defining characteristics were the three identical whisker like scars he had on each cheek. Those combined with his current stance almost made him look... animal like. _

'_Well you don't look happy to me, and plus no one wants to be on their own. Why are you crying anyway? You scared of sumin'?' The boy asked innocently Sasuke felt his anger flare at the question _

_'No I'm not scared of **anything**, I'm sad because my family just died you idiot! They died and left me here all alone and there's nothing I can do about it!' He bit out as he glared at the boy his breaths leaving him in rapid burst. He didn't know if he was breathing hard from screaming at the boy or because of the effort it was taking to keep holding back his cries. But besides a slight widening of his eyes his companion seemed generally unfazed by his outburst and what had just been said. _

_'So you're all alone now' Sasuke just nodded, his throat still tight from holding back his tears, the boy continued to gaze at him 'I'm all alone too, but I've always been alone, I don't know what families are like or what it feels like to lose one.' He paused a thoughtful look on his face 'Although if I did have a family and I had been the one who had to die and leave them on their own I wouldn't want the ones I left behind to look anything like you do now.' Sasuke was in the boy's face before he even knew he reacted_

_'SHUT UP! You said it yourself you know nothing of families so don't pretend like you could even begin to know what or how they would want me to feel!' he seethed. The blue eyes staring back at him sparkled in challenge and he leaned his face even closer to Sasukes _

_'So they would want you to be sitting here in the dirt crying to yourself, throwing a pathetic pity party and tearing yourself apart with guilt and anger? They wouldn't want you to move on and be happy and look back on the happy memories you had with them instead of focusing so hard on their death? They wouldn't want you to try and honor their memories and continue your life trying to better yourself and find your own happiness? No instead they want you to go through life hating yourself and those around you for things that no one can change?' He chuckled and shook his head slowly side to side 'Well if that how families think then I'm glad I don't have one' With that the boy pushed up off the ground and started to walk away through the trees. Sasuke stared after him dumbfounded by his words. No one had talk to him like that, and he found that he kind of... liked it _

_'Hey you can't just say stuff like that and walk away! Where are you going?' Sasuke called after him, the boy continued to walk as he called over his shoulder _

_'Away from here, I have enough sadness in my life without yours bringing me down. If you ever stop feeling sorry for yourself and want to talk you know where to find me.' He was beginning to disappear from view, Sasuke started to get up to go after him. He didn't know if he wanted to yell at him some more or if he just didn't want to be alone but either way he figured it was best to keep the boy in sight. _

_'HEY-' He yelled. As he started to jog after the boy he tripped, the ground rushing up to meet his face and-_

Sasuke jerked awake in his bed again. He sat up and looked around the room in confusion... Wait... It had all been a dream? Sasuke laid his head back down and sighed with annoyance. As much as the boy had angered him, he had also been the first person, dream or otherwise, in 4 months to not look at him in pity or treat him like he was going to self-destruct. He stared at the ceiling and thought about what the dream boy had said... maybe... maybe he had a point. Maybe his parents were looking down at him right now sadden by what they see he has become, a withdrawn, angry and moody child, and the last thing he would want is for them to feel anymore sadness. But how could he possible let it go? He pondered this, all the while in the back of his mind hoping he would see the blonde again tomorrow night, maybe he would have answers

And when he fell asleep the next night the boy was there, like an answer to his prayers.

~0.0.0~

_'Did you change your mind?' The blonde haired kid asked when he finally turned around. Sasuke had been following him like a stalker for the last ten minutes unsure of what he wanted to say. He scowled_

_'I still think your an idiot' _

_'I still think your a jerk' They stared each other down. _

_'Hn. whatever' He looked away wondering if he should leave the kid alone. He felt his eyes on him for a little while longer before he finally looked up 'what?' he sneered. The kid chuckled shaking his head side to side. _

_'I must be desperate' He mumbled before he gave a half grin and waved Sasuke over 'Come on I want to show you something'. Hesitant at first he stood still for a moment longer. The other kid watched him then shrugged turning on his heels 'Ok if you wanna stay I'm not gonna force ya' He started to walk away and in a split second decision Sasuke called out_

_'Hold on. Guess I'll come since I don't have anything better to do' The kid turned and smiled as Sasuke walked over, when he caught up they fell into step together and began walking through the trees. They were both quiet, Sasuke would occasionally sneak glances as the other boy observing his calm expression as they made their way. It was strange, though he looked to be completely at peace with himself Sasuke could sense their was something... darker... something that he was trying to hide. _

_'You can stop checking me out in secret, you suck at it' Sasuke snapped his eyes back to the boys face and glared_

_'Check you out? Why on earth would I do that?"_

_'I don't know, maybe because I'm fiiinnnneee' The blonde drawled with a wink, he just rolled eyes and shove his hands in his pocket_

_'Whatever' He muttered keeping his gaze ahead even when he heard him start laughing at his expense. They fell back into silence, Sasuke was still quietly fuming when the path they had been walking became progressively wider until it opened up to show a house nestle among the trees. It was two stories with a white picket fence surrounding it and a wrap around porch with a basketball hoop set up on the driveway and what looked to be a pool half hidden in the backyard. It was a stereotypical suburban home and it seemed so out of place in the middle of nowhere. 'Who lives there?' He wondered out loud noticing how deserted it looked at the moment. _

_'I do' His head snapped to the side_

_'What' Blue eyes rolled _

_'Its. My. House.' The blonde said making exaggerated gestures with his hands. Sasukes eye twitch along with his hand that wanted so desperately to reach up and smack him. _

_'So you live here with your family?' The other boy turned forward but not before Sasuke saw the sadness in his eyes. _

_'No just me'_

_'But how did you get it? Did you... pay for it?' He knew it sounded ridiculous but he was curious. _

_'You don't really realize where we are do you?' Sasuke shook his head slowly, he knew he must be dreaming somehow but it was unlike any dream he ever had before. Sighing the blonde looked around 'From what I can tell were in some kind of dreamscape. I've never seen another person here until you so I assumed it was my own personal one that I just had freakish control over but maybe its like some kind of alternative reality or something' Sasuke snorted but was unable to give any other counter answer. _

_'Uh huh, still doesn't explain the house' _

_'Well I've always wanted a house like this so I created it' He shrugged one shoulder as if it was everyday a kid built a house in the middle of a forest. _

_'you **built** that?' _

_'No... well kinda... I conjured it' __Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly a faint blush coloring his cheeks._

_'You conjured it?'_

_'Yea I bet you can do it too, all you have to do is want something and picture it and when you open your eyes its there' Sasukes heart sped up _

_'Anything?' Naruto realized his mistake and shook his head _

_'not a person or a moment but a physical object or place and you can have it. All you have to do is envision it." Sasuke thought for a second before closing his eyes and smirking in delight when he felt a familiar weight in his hand. Bringing the tomato up to his lips he took a bite humming in pleasure, he hadn't even realized how hungry he'd been. Naruto stared at him, Sasuke just calmly stared back while finishing up his snack. _

_'I tell you that you can have anything in the world and **this** is what you wanted?' He pointed incredulously at the offending fruit -or was it a vegetable?- in his hand_

_'Tomatoes are delicious. And I was hungry' Staring for a while longer before he grinned _

_'Names Naruto' he held out a hand, Sasuke looked down at it for a second then wrapped his own around it_

_'Sasuke' The boy's grin widen even more than what should have been humanly possible. _

_'I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship'_

~0.0.0~

_Sasuke was running again, breathing fast and kicking up bits of dirt and leaves as he went. His heart pounding he picked up the pace flying through the trees for once with a smile on his face. He burst into the clearing and saw Naruto already working on the tree house without him. He stood still for a few moments hands on his knees as he caught his breath and watched as his friend worked silently his brow furrowed in concentration as he nailed the final floor board down. After a moment he turned and flashed a blinding grin when he saw Sasuke standing there _

'_Hey! You're late' he called dropping the board and standing wiping his hands down the front of his pants. 'Don't just stand there watching me do all the work get your lazy butt up here' with a small smile of his own Sasuke walked the rest of the way to the wooden ladder, the first thing the two boys had built, and climbed up. Once he got to the top he braced himself for the hug he knew was coming. Sure enough a pair of strong tan arms wrapped around him, crushing him against the other boys chest. He gave a weak one back not wanting to let on how much he enjoyed the contact and looked forward to it every time he came. _

'_Kakashi made me stay up and watch a movie with him. He's trying to bond' Sasuke tried his hardest not to sneer, he knew how much Naruto hated it when he said anything bad about his guardian. He must not have done a good enough job because he felt a sharp clap to the back of his head. Turning around he glared at his friend who was standing there with his arms crossed. _

'_Stop being ungrateful. You should be happy someone wants to bond with your moody ass' Naruto hardly ever said a single curse word unless he felt the situation called for it. Which apparently he felt this one did _

'_I'm not trying to be ungrateful. I just hate it when he looks at me with so much… pity and sadness. All his false cheer and road trips trying to show me the beauty of life they just piss me off' He kicked at the wood with the tip of his shoes, his hands shoved in his pockets as he stared across the clearing. _

'_He just wants to help' Naruto was standing right next to him now both of them looking off into the distance 'you should be happy that he's trying. Even if you think he's not doing it right' he turned and gave him a lopsided smile. Sasuke nodded he never asked much about Naruto's home life mostly because Naruto avoided answering whenever he did. But moments like these made him realize that whatever the situation was, it wasn't good. They both stood still for a moment longer until of course the loudmouth broke it 'You know I was thinking, why don't we just conjure the treehouse' Sasuke rolled his eyes_

'_I wanted too, but you insisted that you needed to 'advance your carpentry skills'' He quoted Naruto grinned sheepishly _

'_Well I think they're advanced enough for now plus I thought it be fun. You and I making something together. Besides I didn't know how much of a princess you were' He ignored Sasukes glare and carried on 'Come on let's just finish' Sasuke nodded and the both closed their eyes, visualizing the treehouse they had talked about and picked from pictures. Both counting to ten they opened their eyes and grinned at what they saw. It was functionally a huge platform with a wood rail spanning the edges, there was a small house structure toward the back but since it never rained unless they wanted it too it was purely for show. Happy Naruto conjured up a blanket and spread it out on the boards before sprawling across it. Letting out an exaggerated sigh of comfort he patted the space next to him with a wink. Rolling his eyes Sasuke laid down and they both stared up at the sky taking in the peace of the world around them. _

'_Hey Naruto, do you ever wonder how we do this?' He asked. It had been bugging him for a while, he knew that some people could control their dreams but the level of control he and Naruto had seemed… unreal. And the fact that Naruto, despite the only logical conclusion being that he was a figment of his imagination, felt so much like his own person. _

'_I try not to think about it.'_

'_Why' _

'_I'm worried if I think too much, I might ruin it somehow. And if I lost this… I don't know what I'd do' Sasuke turned his head to the side and studied Narutos profile. There is was again, the feeling that his friend was in trouble. _

'_Naruto you know… if you ever need me, I'd come' Naruto was silent for a moment then he turned his head to look at Sasuke his eyes lacking their usual carefree happiness and becoming strangely vulnerable _

'_You promise?'_

'_yes' Naruto searched his face as if looking for any signs of deception. With a sigh he grabbed Sasukes hand linking their fingers together. _

'_Promise you won't leave me? That will always be friends?' _

'_I promise' the weight of his words settled inside him and with a small smile he squeezed Narutos hand before returning his gaze to the sky. _

~0.0.0~

_Blood and screams clogged his senses as he watched his friend strapped to a table as men cut him again and again. _

'_Naruto!" He pulled against his own restraints but he couldn't move. He had tried again and again to conjure himself out of whatever was holding him, he couldn't see anything but he couldn't move. It was if his body had failed him. Another scream ripped through the air and he glanced up just in time to see the man dressed in white make another cut across Narutos chest._

'_LEAVE HIM ALONE' He screamed but the man gave no reaction, it was like he wasn't there. _

'_Sasuke' Narutos broken cry of his name drew his attention away from the man and to his friend who was gazing at him with sad broken eyes. 'Don't leave me' _

_Another cut_

_Another scream _

_And he was helpless to do anything but watch. _

~0.0.0~

_They were in a cell now and finally he could move. He ran to his friend who was lying still on the ground. He fell to his knees, leaning his upper body against the wall behind him he pulled Narutos back to his front. Feeling bad when the blonde winced at being moved. 'I'm sorry' he whispered moving to put him back but a hand gripped his shirt tight_

'_No. please' His voice was hoarse, the absence of is usual joyful tone bringing tears to his eyes. _

'_Naruto. Whats happening? Why couldn't I help you' _

'_Been thinking…. because… Hypnagogia' unused to not knowing a word Sasuke asked Naruto to repeat himself several times. The last one earing him a huff of irritation and if he had had the strength probably a sarcastic retort. _

"_What is that'_

'_What was happening to me... It was real but you are not, does that make sense? I was so delirious I think I called you here and because I was somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness I could reach you but it wasn't complete.' Pretending like he understood any of that Sasuke nodded wrapping his arms tighter around his friend. _

_'Where are you? Maybe I can come-'_

_'They grabbed me from the home at night. Put me to sleep. I have no clue where we are but I think its underground. Its hopeless' Sasuke tightened his arms around his friend, there had to be something. _

'_How do we make them stop?' _

'_I don't think we can' _

'_Naruto we-' _

'_Just hug me please' Unable to offer anything else that's what he did._

~0.0.0~

_Knives digging into his flesh and peeling it away from the bone the pain indescribable. Clenching his teeth so hard he heard his jaw pop and there was a grinding sound. He wasn't an observer this time. The mirror placed above the table showed Naruto spread out and bleeding but sometimes there was a flicker and he could swear he saw the outline of himself. Somewhere hidden in Narutos body. Which if he had been in his right state of mind might have freaked him out. _

_Another peel _

_Both of them threw their head back and screamed, voices mingling with each other. Why was this happening? The doctor's face was hidden behind a mask but he could still see the obvious glee in his eyes as he inflicted pain upon them. Not that he gave any indication that he knew Sasuke was there. _

'_Naruto' he whispered 'I don't know how much longer I can take this' _

'_I'm sorry S'uke I didn't mean to call you. I'm trying' another scream 'let you go' _

'_Who are you talking to pet' The doctor cackled 'your imaginary friend again? Do you think he can save you?' He dug the knife in deeper this time 'No one can save you' a slash this time. Sasuke felt what could only be described as a push and then he was gone_

~0.0.0~

'_Kakashi wants me to meet with someone' they were back in the cell in the now familiar position of lying back to front while Sasuke leaned against the wall. Both of them showed signs of their ordeal, dark circles under their eyes, thin, Naruto had various cuts and bruises while Sasuke walked around at home like a zombie barely able to function. They listened to the steady dripping in the cell from a crack in the ceiling the sound rhythmic and strangely soothing _

'_Why' drip._

'_The dreams… this… he's noticing and he's worried' drop. _

'…_ What's going to happen' drip. _

'… _I don't know'_

_Drop. _

~0.0.0~

"_Why?" Naruto was huddled in a corner his arms wrapped around his legs with his head pressed against his knees, he appeared to be even weaker and thinner now then he had ever been before. It was strange, Sasuke thought, this was the pose that the boy had found Sasuke himself in once the first time they met and now their roles were reversed on this night which was meant to be their last. In the past Sasuke would have went to him, but he could almost hear "the specialist" telling him to stay back._

_"I'm sorry Naruto... if I don't do this now their talking about sending me to a facility" After one night when he had woken up with self inflicted scratch marks down his arm and then passed out from exhaustion in the middle of class child protective services had gotten involved. Sasuke was scared to close his eyes, not sure if he'd be locked with Naruto in the middle of a torture session or with him in his cell. The woods where they had spent the first six months of their friendship was long gone, this windowless room had been their meeting place for the last three months. This or the operating room. _

_'Please Sasuke I'll try not to call you during the sessions anymore but I need you here after. You're the only thing keeping me sane' He moved to his knees wincing as he did so, panic visible in his every movement. Sasuke wanted to go comfort him, every cell of his body was screaming for him too but he knew if he did so he wouldn't be able to leave. The truth is he was scared. His safe haven had become a nightmare that he couldn't seem to wake from, he hadn't had a good night sleep in months. He didn't know if he could do this anymore._

_'I don't have a choice, Kakashi, the specialist, CPS they all tell me that I have to let you go'_

_'But your smart you can figure out a way around it. And I swear I won't call you when their... I SWEAR! Just please, I need you to come after. Please' His voice broke at the end unshed tears shinning in his eyes. Moments like this, seeing Naruto like this, made everything the specialist said feel wrong. T__hat the boy was only a figment of his imagination, the part of him that he had created when he was scared and in pain over the death of his family, he had told him he needed to be strong and let him go because now all his repressed pain was coming back to hurt him. He had tried so hard to prove that Naruto was real but there was an answer for everything. He'd been meeting with him every day for a month before he began to wonder if maybe… he was right. But then he'd fall asleep and see his friend and he'd know he was real, but things felt so different when he was awake. Everything he said to defend Naruto was made him sound crazy. He didn't know what was real anymore, or who to believe. _

'_They're starting me on the pills tomorrow. This is my last night' He watched as Naruto hung his head in defeat and he couldn't resist placing a hand on his shoulder 'They think that you're hurting me' Narutos head snapped up his blue eyes flaring in anger _

'_They're hurting ME, please don't leave me here alone, please…. I don't wanna be alone' The boy held Sasukes gaze, silently pleading with him. Sasuke wanted nothing more than to pull him into a hug and comfort him as he had done for Sasuke all those months ago. _

'_I'm sorry, but I can't come back to you anymore.' he turned and gripped the door, his heart felt like it was ripping in his chest. He tried to comfort himself by saying that this wasn't real. Naruto was just another version of himself… one that he had to let go. _

"_Sasuke… You promised. You promised you wouldn't leave" he whispered…. His words almost to faint for Sasukes ears to hear. Almost. Snapping he spun around and crushed the boy into a hug. Tears spilling down his cheeks and soaking into his hair. He felt an answering wetness on his shirt. _

_'And I meant it Naruto. God I meant it. Ever since we've met you have always been here for me, always known what to say. Out of every person in my life you were the only one to make me smile again' And now he was abandoning him in his time of need. He didn't know how long they sat their clinging to each other his heart tearing more and more with every passing tick of the clock. Finally he pulled back, he had to try several times to free himself from Narutos vice like grip. Looking at his friend for one last time he could see the fear and hope in his eyes. He knew Naruto wanted him to say that he would figure something out, knew he needed him to stay. But Sasuke couldn't promise that, he couldn't promise anything, and it was better he end it now than give him false hope. With a sad smile he stood_

"_I'm sorry, Naruto…" Turning he grasped the door to the cell one he'd never tried to open before. _

_'Sasuke. Don't do this' Tears running unchecked he turned the knob 'SASUKE!' The door opened and he was pulled out the sound of Naruto screaming his name following him through. _


	3. Chapter One

_His feet pounded against the stone of the torch lite hallway, his blood pulsing loudly in his ears and his lungs burning. Even with his legs rebelling at the punishing pace he had set he refused to slow, he knew he was running out of time, he might already be too late. He continued running and running before coming to a stop when the hallway split into three different directions. Shit, now what? He didn't have time, he needed him, and Sasuke could feel him getting weaker by the second._

_"Help… Me" Sasuke paused and focused on calming his ragged breathing as he listen harder to try and determine the direction the voice was coming from. It felt like countless hours ticked by while he waited, even though in reality it wasn't longer than a minute, then finally he heard it again "Help… me… please" He turned to the left and once again set off at a pounding run, ignoring his protesting muscles, his heart racing, he had to find him NOW. Finally he saw a door at the end of the hallway and ran full speed at it, for the first time in his life not caring about traps or trying to analyze all the outcomes of the situation before he acted. His heart in his throat when he finally reached the door and pushed it open, feeling a rush of relief when he discovered it to be unlocked. He glanced around the dark room and waited for his eyes to adjust. Then he saw him on the floor, pale and thin with his blonde hair plastered to his face by sweat and blood. Sasuke moved toward him and knelt down staring at the boy's face, his breathe caught in fear that he might already be too late. Finally the boy's eyes opened and Sasuke was awed by the spectacular shade of blue that looked back at him. The boy parted his cracked lips before the corners turned up into a smile, Sasukes heart twisted at the sight._

_"Finally" The boy said "You found me"_

An alarm blared through the room jolting him awake. He blinked disorientated, heart racing before he realized his alarm was still blaring and reached over to shut it off. It was an uncommon thing for him to do, usually he was awake well before it had a chance to ring. With a groan he threw his legs over the side of the bed leaning forward and rubbing a hand over his face. Flashes of his dream flickered through his mind as he cradled his head in his hands. One image, the one of the blonde boy, frozen in his mind briefly taking him back to his childhood before he shut it down. There was no use going back to any memory he had before he was fourteen**, **nothing good ever came from a trip that far down memory lane.

Sighing he lifted his head out of his hands and looked at his cell phone resting on the night stand and debated over whether he should call Kakashi and see if he could determine why the boy had made a reappearance. He quickly decided against it, reasoning that one relapse most likely brought on by stress wasn't enough to panic over. Shaking any lingering thoughts of the dream from his mind he pushed off of the bed and walked over to his bathroom, scratching his chest absentmindedly as he did. He hopped in the shower keeping it short and efficient because as usual most of his time in the bathroom would be spent trying to tame his hair. Thirty minutes in and he once again admitted defeat after getting the front half to lie down and let the back continue to do what it wanted. He walked back into his bedroom, towel wrapped around his waist and padded into closet, picking out one of his many navy blue button down shirts and jeans. Pausing to slide the family watch on his wrist, he ignored the customary chill that ran through him at the sight of it adorning his wrist and the unconscious flash of that night that came with it. After all of these years and countless hours of therapy you would think he would no longer be haunted by it. Leaving his bedroom in a hurry he walked down the short hallway leading out into his living room, he almost continued forward toward the front door when a flash of color caught his eye. Pausing, he eyed both the Starbucks cup and white box with pink and red writing on it resting on his counter suspiciously. He slowly walked over glancing around as he did so and picked up the note that was resting on top of the box.

**Good Morning Sasuke,**

**I came over earlier hoping we could ride into work together but I had forgotten that you were assigned a late mission last night so you'd be coming in until after lunch today. Any way I decided to leave the coffee and donuts for you, though I did sneak one :) I hope you enjoy them**

**See you later,**

**Sakura**

Sasuke glanced from the note to the food and back again, unsure how to take the gesture. Sakura had made no secret of the fact that she wanted him and after one drunken incident last month when he had let things go a little too far she had become almost relentless in her pursuit. He had continued to brush her off but she refused to take no for an answer, if anything his indifference seem to make her want him more. He picked up the doughnut and sniffed it experimentally, he wouldn't be surprised if they were laced with some kind of love poison. With a sigh he let it drop back into the box and decided to ignore the suspiciously friendly event. Moving away from his counter making a mental note to ask for his key back. He had only given it to her because they were neighbors/coworkers and for emergencies, but now he was beginning to worry about her having access to his home. What if she had stood in his doorway watching him sleep? The thought sent shudders down his spine. He made his own coffee dumping the Starbucks cup in the trash. He almost did the same to the box finding all the happy colors on it offensive in his grey and black tone home, but thought better of it and put it back on the counter.

After making his own breakfast he grabbed the box and headed out the door, stopping in the lobby to hand the box of doughnuts to the receptionist who for some reason took it as a sign of interest. Ten minutes and countless refusals later Sasuke felt a vein pulsing in his forehead as he explained for the millionth time that he was not interested. To think he had been happy when he saw that the main receptionist in his building was male, only to find out after he moved in that he was gay. Figures. Finally giving up he turned on his heels and marched out of the lobby ignoring the calls of his name behind him as stomped down to the parking garage only calming once he was behind the wheel of his baby. Hearing the Koenigsegg CCX purr to life always made him happy, or as close to happy as he ever got these days. Wiping the car out of his spot he roared down the streets of Konoha weaving in and out of the mid-day traffic ignoring the curses that were shouted his way. Smiling to himself as sped by thinking of all the rage they must be feeling in their lesser vehicles as he hummed along with the classical music playing softly barely heard above the roar of the engine. It wasn't long before he was speeding to the front of his building, cutting off another driver he swung his car into the last available parking spot in front of the seemingly inconspicuous office building. He got out and entered the building once again ignoring the angry shouts of the driver who had been about to park in the same spot. He shot a glare over his shoulder making sure to memorize the man as well as the make and model of his car just in case he decided to take out his anger on his baby. If he was that idiotic then Sasuke would make more than certain it was the last stupid thing he ever did, maybe the last thing he did ever. Facing forward once again he pushed through the glass doors leading into the marble lobby, giving a quick nod to Genma and Raidou he passed through the security doors. He stalked across the empty lobby to the elevator still humming as he punched in his code and gave his finger prints before he was granted access to ride to the top floor where the ANBU black ops office was located.

He relaxed against the elevator wall as it rose quickly to the 37th floor. The elevator never stopped at any other floor, all the companies that were listed to this address (to make it less conspicuous) were dummies set up by the government and if you tried to contact that office you were routed to a different line with a voice mail box that never returned your calls. The building itself was built like a fortress, reinforced walls bulletproof windows state of the art security systems that were updated every four months, twenty four hour full staff guard trained in every sort of martial arts you could imagine. Constant bomb sweeps and surveillance. It was most likely one of the safest buildings in Japan. Sasuke had only been working there for about a year, recruited out of college by his own guardian, but in his whole time their had never been a single threat that wasn't neutralized before it even became a problem. He exited the elevator and began the walk to his office when a small curvaceous blonde stepped into his path.

"Hey Sasuke" Ino simpered batting her lashes and clasping her arms in front of her in an attempt to catch his attention with her impressive cleavage. He will admit when he first met the girl he had been tempted, she was blonde, curvy and intelligent, everything he usually went for in his hook ups. But after their first conversation where she stared at him with far too many hearts in her eyes he knew that he would have to stay far FAR away from her. He could practically see her planning their wedding in her head and he knew anything he started with Ino would prove difficult to end, and because they worked together he didn't even want to chance the possible headache it would turn out to be.

"Hey" he replied in a cool voice keeping his expression bland. He made a move to step around her but before he could even lift his foot she was once again in his way. He repressed a sigh and slowly put his foot back down

"So I have these tickets to a concert on Saturday. I was supposed to go with a friend but she cancelled on me last minute so now I'm stuck trying to fill her spot" She stopped and gazed at him, he guessed she was waiting for him to **_offer_** to come with her. Like that was ever going to happen. He supposed that he could offer to go as a friend but that didn't seem like something he would or wanted to do. Plus all it would do is encourage her and that was the last thing he needed.

"Hn" He replied simply hoping she would see his disinterest and move along. He glanced over her head staring longingly at his office. If only she would move then he could make his escape, he briefly thought about shoving her out of the way but then considered the possible repercussions and decided against it. He had been dealing with love struck girls since he hit puberty, his patience could hold out.

"Oh Sasuke" She giggled and he cringed, he hated giggling. "I was wondering if you wanted to go with me? As like a date?" She blushed and looked away but not before he saw the hopeful look in her eye. Sasuke sighed out loud this time, hard as it is to believe he hated doing this. It was always awkward and uncomfortable sometimes ended in tears and anger that he felt was completely unjustified and over dramatic. if only these girls would get a clue it would save them all a lot of embarrassment

"Look Ino-" He began

"Sasuke" He paused and turned his head to see Kakashi standing at the end of the other end of the hall to the left of him. The masked man took in the scene in front of him and Sasuke could see in his eye that he had analyzed the situation and could probably read in his body language that he needed an escape. He blew out a breath, he was saved.

"Yes" He answered curtly keeping his head turned away from Ino but he could still feel the disappointment radiating off her as well as her anger at being interrupted.

"Come on, We have another assignment and Tsunade wants us all in the briefing room immediately." Sasuke nodded turning away from Ino without another word and falling into step beside his old guardian.

"Thank you for that" He muttered Kakashi turned and gave him a smile, at least Sasuke assumed it was a smile. Even though Kakashi was his guardian and they had lived together for a number of years he had never seen his full face, all of his facial expressions had to be deciphered by the top left side of his face because it was the only part that he left exposed.

"You looked like you could use a rescue, but we really do have a mission" Kakashi replied then chuckled a little " I have to admit I saw you get out of the elevator but it was pretty entertaining watching you panic. I swear you would think she was asking you for your hand in marriage" he paused "Actually now that I think about it she could have been, she is pretty crazy about you" Sasuke shook his head disgusted. How could she be 'crazy' for him? She didn't even know him.

"I don't know what's wrong with women. I show them no interest, give them no encouragement but still they insist on asking me out again and again. Its annoying" Kakashi laughed at Sasukes irritated tone.

"They just can't help themselves against your 'Man of mystery' persona, every single one of them wants to be the girl who you let in, the one that gets to know what you're thinking" Sasuke scowled

"Trust me, no they don't" He muttered darkly before steering the conversation away from himself "Maybe I should inform them who I learned my 'man of mystery' charm from. Every girl in here is also dying to be the one who gets to see your true face. But I swear you eat, sleep, and probably fuck with the damn thing on so good luck to them" Kakashi glanced at him giving a surprised laugh but chose not to comment and they finish the walk to the briefing room in comfortable silence. They entered the room to see Tsunade, Sakura, Neji and Hinata already gathered around the table. His eyes clashed with a pair of gold ones that never failed to take him back in his mind before he quickly glanced away.

"Took you guys long enough, hurry up and sit down I don't have all day" Tsunade yelled already in a temper. They both sighed and took a seat, Kakashi took the one closest to Tsunade which meant Sasuke was forced to take the only available one next to Sakura and judging by her smile, he could tell she'd been saving it just for him. Mouthing 'traitor' to Kakashi who pretended that he didn't see, he slumped down into the seat.

"Ok now that everyone is here" She glared pointedly at them and both Kakashi and Sasuke glance away from her piercing gaze "I'll begin" She handed each of them a folder containing papers detailing their mission, they started to shuffle through them as she began the briefing "We've received intel that could possible lead us to the hide out of one of the world's most dangerous criminals: Orochimaru. In the past when we have gotten close to discovering his hide outs we always arrive too late and he goes underground for months before we hear from him again. So we need to move quickly on this, your team is to leave as soon as possible your mission is to infiltrate his lair and bring this criminal back to answer for his crimes. Also bring back any other information you find that could give us more evidence against him and details about just how much damage he has caused." She leaned back in her chair her eyes roaming over each of their faces, she sighed clearly annoyed

"What are you waiting for, a written invitation? I said move QUICKLY!" She screamed the last word and they all hop out of their chairs and filed out of the room. The group gathered outside of the briefing room and quickly agreed to meet at Kakashi's apartment in two hours, giving them enough time to settle things before they had to head off.

Sasuke turned quickly and almost ran to the elevator, pretending to not to hear Sakura behind him calling out his name and breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator doors close shut leaving him inside alone. Leaning his head back against the cold metal wall he wondered how this mission was going to go if he was constantly trying to run from her. He would have to talk to her before they left. If things continued on like this it could endanger any mission they had in the future. He wondered if he should some how try and explain and apologize for what happened at the bar a month ago. But he wouldn't even now where or how to begin. He had been drunk and sexually frustrated and she kept making herself available, he had managed to stop before it went too far but it had already crossed the line he had tried to draw between them. Sighing he stepped from the elevator and walked to his car, pleased when he saw that the idiot from earlier had realized that it cost more than his life and decided not to mess with it. Sliding behind the wheel he drove uncharacteristically slow home as he thought over what exactly he needed to do to get ready for the mission. The file had said that the base Orochimaru had supposedly been spotted at was only seven hours outside of Konoha so it shouldn't be a particularly long mission. Probably two days tops give or take a day depending on what exactly they found once they were able to do recon. Packing should be pretty light, they would need to travel on foot part of the way and had to move silently through the terrain just in case there were scouts lurking around the base. Still running over details in his mind he pulled into his spot and rode the elevator up to the top floor where his and Sakuras were located. He had yet to decide weather it was coincidence or not that she happened to have an apartment two doors down from his. But considering that a lot of the agents from ANBU had apartments in this building it seems plausible and that her family also came from money it was possible that she had no idea he lived here until she moved in.

Opening the door to his apartment he quickly began gathering what little he thought he would need that wouldn't already be provided for them by headquarters. Leaving his watch on the dresser , ignoring the relief he got every time he took it off, and changed into more lightweight clothing and his combat boots. They weren't as light as some of his other shoes but considering that they didn't know what exactly they were getting into he decided it was better to have the heavy duty shoes just in case.

He finished the rest of his packing pretty quickly and after glancing at the clock realized he still had a good fifty minutes to relax before he had to leave. He laid down on the couch, going over the mission that lie ahead, there's no mistaking that Orochimaru is a dangerous and powerful opponent and he needed to be mentally prepared for the upcoming battle. He started to run through battle strategies in his mind before slowly nodding off to sleep

_"You're Back" Sasuke's head snapped up and he glanced around the familiar windowless brick room before his eyes settled on the blonde before him. His eyes grew large when he took in the aged form of his imaginary childhood friend, the boy had grown taller, his long body taking up half of the windowless room they were in, the whisker scars on his cheeks had grown more prominent and gave his face a dangerously attractive look, his crystal blue eyes regarded Sasuke quietly. Overall he looked that same but.. harder. His eyes didn't shine the way they used too they were flat and dull, cold like ice. As Sasuke looked up and met those beautiful blue eyes an unfamiliar emotion rose in his chest, actually the appearance of any emotion at all was distressing for the usually stoic man. Naruto as perceptive as ever noticed something was off _

_"What's wrong?" He asked cocking his head to the side while gazing at him, a move at one time so familiar to Sasuke it made the feeling sharpen even more becoming almost painful. Sasuke slowly shook his head while trying to analyze what the tightness in his chest could be_

_'….I think I….. Missed… you' Naruto eyes widen in shock before they narrowed. His lips pulled back in a snarl releasing a growl that was so animalistic it caused the hairs on Sasukes neck to stand on end. _

_'Missed me? You're the one who LEFT me?' He hissed, Sasuke flinched back from his anger once again feeling another unfamiliar emotion but this one was easy to identify: guilt._

_'I'm sorry, he told me I had to… he said you weren't real…' Sasuke paused then began to laugh at himself "Of course you're not real, this is all in my head, some sick twisted fantasy my lonely traumatized brain came up with. Why am I even apologizing to you? It's the same as apologizing to myself." He continued to laugh not noticing the infuriated look the blonde was giving him, in a flash Naruto was in front of him and before Sasuke could blink he had landed a blow against his jaw, strong enough to send him stumbling back._

_'What the fuck!' He grunted bringing his hand up to his cheek_

_'Did that feel real enough for you? This isn't some dream this is a reality, a reality you left me in alone. After everything that we have been through together, everything I helped you with, I thought you would save me but instead you walked out.' The boy was breathing hard his body shaking with the force of his anger as he glared at Sasuke with such rage he wondered if his life was in danger. Both of them were standing on opposite sides of the small room glaring at the other, one trying to make sense of what this all meant the other trying to keep from killing the very same person that he once cared about more than anyone in his life. He let out a dark chuckle 'I swear Sasuke the only thing that's keeping me from strangling you is the memories of our year together, but** don't** tempt me' __ Sasuke continued to stare, never one for backing down from a challenge the idiot stared right back. _

_'I don't understand. After all this time why are you back?' Crystal blue eyes harden and his lips twisted into a sardonic smirk_

_'I never left' _

_A hard knocking sound shook the room. He looked around trying to find the source but saw nothing. 'Looks like our times up' He glanced back at his old friend, their gazes once again locked. The pounding got louder but he was unable to tear his eyes away from the others, there was something else in there. Underneath all rage and hate... something li- _

_In a flash he was on him, grasping his upper arms he gave him a shove. Sasuke fell to the side in what felt like slow motion and he was inches from hitting the floor when he swore he heard..._

_'See you soon.'_

Sasuke was once again jolted awake, this time by falling off of the couch. He landed in a heap on his living room floor groaning a the pain in his shoulder which had taken most of the fall. He rubbed his left shoulder and glared at the ceiling as if it was somehow to blame. A knocking sound filled the room again and he quickly got to his feet his gaze swinging widely around his apartment before landing on his front door. Relaxing he scolded himself for jumping around like some preteen girl and padded across the living room to the door. Glancing through the peep hole he saw a familiar mop of short pink toned hair and with a sigh opened the door to let the beaming Sakura into his house. He silently step aside making a welcoming motion with his hand and ignored the way her eyes traveled up and down his body as she walked passed him and went over to the couch.

"You took a while to answer. You okay?" Shutting the door Sasuke went and sat on the other side of the couch keeping a good distance between them and sent a silent thank you up to what ever deity was listening that she didn't move closer.

"I fell asleep" She nodded and shifted awkwardly in her seat, sneaking peeks at him every so often. Deciding that now was as good a time as ever he took a deep breath and began

"Look Sakura I-"

"Sasuke we sh-" They both stopped mid-sentence, blushing lightly Sakura gave a small smile "I'll go first. I know that you've been avoiding me after what happened last month. I mean with the way you ran down the hall today it was pretty obvious, but I want you to know that its really not necessary." He raised a brow

"Its not?" She flushed a little and shook her head

"I like you Sasuke, I know that you know this, hell everyone probably does but I also know that work and maintaining a professional relationship comes first. I also can tell that your really not looking for a relationship right now and I understand." She reached forward and grabbed one of his hands, he tensed unused to being touched but he allowed it for now "All I'm asking is that you at least give me a chance. If not as a love interest then maybe as a friend" She looked at him hopefully with a hint of fear in her eyes. It was times like this that he wished that he was as big of a bastard as he always tried to be. Sakura was beautiful, there was no hiding that. She was tall and slender with an athletic figure that he did find attractive. Maybe even more attractive then Ino's curves. And her pale strawberry blonde hair that looked almost pink in certain lights (a genetic defect in her family) combined with her jade colored eyes gave her a sexy and exotic look but it wasn't enough. As beautiful and intelligent and kind as she was, he still couldn't see himself in any kind of relationship with her beside professional. Not that she should take it personally since he didn't see himself in any kind of relationship with anyone beside a professional one. He pulled his hand from her and pretended he didn't see the heartbreak his action caused

"I'm sorry Sakura but I'm afraid that you'd be better off not having me in your life outside of work. As a friend or lover" Flashes of the past coming unbidden to his mind solidifying his decision "I would only disappoint" Her brow furrowed and she looked like she wanted to say more but Sasuke stood effectively cutting her off. "I'll just go get my bag and i'll be ready to go" With that he walked out of the room feeling her eyes on him the whole entire way. Once he was inside his bedroom he leaned against the dresser his hands clutching the edges so hard his knuckles were pure white and he squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to stop the flashes of his past that continued to play on a loop in his brain. Using a technique he learned as a kid he forced his eyes open and focused on one object in the room taking in all the details while counting backward from ten. The item happened to be a tie that he had left stretch across his dresser. As he took in the colors he felt the memories receding further back into his mind until they were safely back in a box that he could swing shut. Breathing a sigh of relief he straighten and grabbed his bag, checking the room over to make sure nothing was left on he strolled back out into the living room. Sakura turned a concerned look on her face

"Sasuke are you-"

"Are you ready to get going?" Once again he cut her off. They stared at each other for a moment before she looked away in defeat. Sighing she stood and grabbed the pack she had dropped on the floor near the couch. Giving him a curt nod she walked out of the apartment standing in the hall and waiting for him to follow. Once again he looked around his apartment making sure everything was in order. Usually he trusted his instincts, he was very meticulous and almost never forgot anything, but today with all of the weird dreams his been having he felt a little off.

**_I never left..._**

Shaking his head he turned on his heels and walked out shutting the door tightly behind him, turning both the lock and deadbolt before following Sakura who had already started walking toward the elevators. Once inside they rode the rest of the way down in silence and he couldn't help but replay his dream again in his head. It had felt freakishly realistic but he still attributed them to stress and lack of sleep more than anything. As well as the fact that he recently stop taking his sleeping pills. He hadn't seen the point anymore, he was a grown man he should be able to withstand a few nightmares. Also he hated the fact that they left him feeling groggy if he every had to be awake in a split second when he was called into work. But maybe he should consider going back on them... Once again he dismissed the thought he reasoned that the only reason he dreamed about the boy again was because he had been thinking about him earlier this morning so he had dislodged some old memories in his subconscious and they had played out an alternate reality while he slept. Nodding his head at his assessment he walked out of the elevator doors and into the parking garage walking over to his baby. He opened Sakuras door for her and grabbed her bag, tossing both hers and his in the trunk, before making his way around to the drivers side and sliding in. He had just turned to check behind him before pulling out when he heard Sakura gasp.

"Who hit you?" She asked reaching over the console to touch his cheek, Sasuke drew his head back flinching away from the unwanted touch

'What?" Sakura's hand was still hanging in the air between them. After casting him a brief wounded look she pulled it back holding it to her chest. Her expression changing again as she continued to gaze at him

"Your cheek, it's swollen. It looks like someone punched you pretty good." She said again, concerned. Sasuke blinked then turned and adjusted his mirror to get a good look at his face. Just as Sakura had said, there was a bruise and slight swelling already beginning to form along the left side of his jaw. He touched the area in awe, the simple bruise going against everything he had been condition to think.

_No fucking way_

_It.. It was only a dream!_

"Who could land a punch on you? I've never seen that happen before" Sakura asked, the sound of her voice interrupting his chaotic thoughts. Sasuke just slowly shook his head in disbelief and said one word

"Naruto"

* * *

Probably my least favorite chapter of all the ones that I've written but its suffered through countless rewrite and edits and updates so I think this is as good as its gonna get.

One more note, I decided to take some more advice and I am going to try and respond to every review I get. I hope to do it within a day of the review but I am scatterbrain to bare with me. Also I apologize in advance for my awkwardness


	4. Chapter Two

Sakura fiddled with the edge of her shirt, casting yet another worried glance at Sasuke before quickly facing forward. If you weren't paying attention you would think he looked normal and completely relaxed, his face was its usual emotionless mask and his body posture was slumped casually in the seat just as it always was when he drove. He was the picture of normalcy any person from the outside looking in wouldn't notice a thing, anyone but her. She had observed and studied this man more times than she could count and as creepy as it sounds she could pick up on every single one of his tells. She could see the tight way he was holding his jaw, the white knuckled grip he had on the steering wheel and then every once in a while his hand would touch his bruised cheek and a look of awe would come across his face before he quickly reassembled his features back into their customary position. That one look that lasted all of five seconds was full of more emotion then she's seen on Sasukes' face... ever. Except for a few _minutes before when he had said that name._

_"Naruto" Sakura jolted, taken back by the look on his face. In his eyes there was a kind of desperation as he said the name with more care and affection that Sakura had thought he was capable of feeling, let alone expressing. She mentally tried to sort through their mutual acquaintances to see if she could possibly match a name with a face but came up blank._

_"Who's Naruto?" She asked and after a moment Sasuke face once again closed off and resumed his normal bland expression. He turned away from her to grab his seat belt then after making a big show of buckling himself in he glanced up, his eyes once again cold and his face unreadable_

_"No one"_

_No one, _Sakura hmphed crossing her arms and slumping in her seat as she stared out of the window. _Bull. Shit._ There had to be somebody and they had to be important if they could make Sasuke react like that. Sakura herself would kill if her name alone was capable of putting that much emotion in his face or care in his voice. But as she had said before she knew this man better than any normal person should, and she knew no matter what she said or did he was no longer going to speak on the subject. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sasukes hand come up and touch his cheek, that look in his eyes returning for a split second before he slammed his hand back down on the steering wheel.

_No one huh_ she thought to herself biting her lip and her brow furrowing in frustration. Well somebody had to put that bruise there and it had to have been somebody close to him if they somehow landed a punch on Sasuke. She narrowed her eyes in determination

And she, she decided, was going to find out just who this somebody was.

0.0.0

_I just can't believe it. _His fingers trembled slightly as he traced the bruise forming on his jaw. Does this mean that… Naruto was real? After all this time did he finally have proof that his friend was real? But if he had been real all this time.. flashes of the doctor cutting into his flesh as he screamed came to mind before he shoved them away slamming his hand back down on the steering wheel, pretending he didn't notice Sakura flinching. No, no way. His mind ran over other plausible answers for the bruise, he could have just hit something when he fell off the couch. Yea that was it. That's the only logical explanation. He unconsciously touched his jaw again, thinking back on his dream

_'Did that feel real enough for you? This isn't some dream this is a reality, a reality you left me in alone' blue eyes flashing, cheek throbbing_

Sasuke dismissed it, no it just wasn't possible. Because if it was possible, that would mean that Sasuke had left his only real friend to suffer alone and purposely ignored his calls for help. It didn't matter whether he thought Naruto wasn't real he would still be guilty of abandoning him to his fate. Whatever that fate had been and judging by the state of things when he left it most likely hadn't been good. It wasn't real he decided, desperate to believe it was true, it was just a coincidence that's all. With that decided he resolutely kept both hands on the steering wheel ignoring the occasional clenching and loosing of them when he had to restrain himself from touching his face. He would not give in, it was a bruise that was all, and it proved nothing. This internal war continued to be fought the rest of the drive to Kakashi's apartment.

Trying to put all thoughts of Naruto and dreams away and get his mind firmly on the mission ahead he started to go over recon tactics in his head. He went over all of Orochimaru's past MO's and failed captures as he got out of the car and opened the trunk to retrieve his pack, vaguely his mind registered that Sakura was doing the same (lucky for her otherwise she might have lost a hand or two in his trunk) while sending him frequent worried glances. He blatantly to ignore it, he didn't have the time to try or the knowledge to answer her questions, questions that probably were close to the ones he himself wanted answered. Together they walked across the parking lot closer to the front of the apartment building where the others were gathered around Kakashi's huge truck. The black 2015 Toyota 4Runner was as much Kakashis' baby as Sasuke's car was his own, with the exception that Kakshi's car was tricked out to withstand almost as much damage as a tank. He had various contacts in weapons development that had done extensive updates to the vehicle, updates that would have Bruce Wayne shitting himself with jealously.

Sasuke quickly went to stand by Neji who briefly glanced at him giving a small nod of acknowledgement. The stoic Hyuuga had his long dark hair pulled back, his pale grey eyes constantly watching his surroundings and his mouth set in a permanent line. Neji might be the only human being alive that had even less social skills then him. He never seemed to be able to turn off his 'battle mode', he interrogated every person he met (including extensive background checks) and questioned if everyone could have alter motives. Asking if a girl was planning on cutting your throat while you slept and what information she hope to collect while implying a threat her life if she told anything wasn't really the first date talk most woman went for. Next to him was his cousin Hinata, where Neji was slightly neurotic Hinata was calm. Her waist length dark hair was braided down her back, large opal eyes trained forward, posture relaxed, arms resting casually by her sides and a peace seemed to radiate from her. When Sasuke first met her he thought she belonged in a yoga studio or teaching first graders not taking down threats to national security. Until he saw her in action, her calm rational and level head was an asset to any situation, combined with her iron clad will and unparalleled fighting skills she was a force to be reckoned with. The first time Sasuke saw her in a fight he could have sworn she was dancing as she fluidly dodge attacks before striking her own, her moves precise and deadly. She was also the only female he could stand for more than two minutes, she had never tried to flirt with him or even looked at him with a hint of attraction. At one point he wondered if she was a lesbian but decided that was his ego talking more than any evidence. He felt Sakuras presence as she settled on the other side of him but continued to ignore it and stare straight ahead.

"Good now that everyone is here we can get moving" Kakashi announced from his posistion lounging against the driver side door of his car. His uncovered eye scanning the crowd before pausing and stopping on Sasuke shocked at all the turmoil he was sensing in the boy. That combined with the bruise he saw appearing on his face was enough for him to start to worry. Straightening from his pose he barked at the others "Everyone get loaded into the truck, Sasuke come with me" and motioned for Sasuke to follow him across the parking lot out of ear shot from the others.

"What is going on" He questioned and watched his expression carefully as he tried to form an answer

"Nothing" he lied determined not to look at his feet as he had done often when he was a kid trying to lie to his guardian instead looking somewhere past the other man's left ear. Feeling the weight of Kakashi's gaze on him he sighed in defeat "Just had a weird dream" he mumbled, hoping that was enough. Kakashi paused, he remembered Sasuke as a boy and the dreams he used to have then. Terrible nightmares that would have him crying out in pain and panic

"Do we need to call-"

"No!" Grey eyes widen in surprise, Sasuke never raised his voice, ever. Sasuke realizing his error gentled his tone "No, I am handling it" He said then turned on his heels and went to help the others. Kakashi watched him go, noting the stiff posture. It was normal for Sasuke to act like something was shoved up his ass but now it looked like he might be conscious of it. Gone was the easy 'don't fuck with me' stride and cocky attitude replaced with a stiff back, jerky steps and a forced calm expression. Something was definitely off. Could that something really be as small as a dream? But then he remembered the first year of Sasuke living with him and he quickly decided to keep a close eye on him. He was off his game, something that has never happened before and could prove to be unpredictable. And an unpredictable Sasuke on a mission like this was never a good thing.

* * *

_Hmm so this is where he has been hiding_… Kakashis eyes swept over the dense forest terrain in front of him, not wanting to admit it but a little impressed with the snakes choice of a hide out. They had parked the car more than a few miles back both because they hadn't wanted to draw attention and because it was virtually impossible to drive any further into the forest, then went the rest of the way on foot. That had been tough enough in itself, the roots of the trees were thick and twisted across the hard forest floor and the density of the trunks made it impossible to keep a straight path or even get aerial coverage since the leaves were so packed together. They had to leave countless markers to ensure that they wouldn't get lost as well as marking their paths on the GPS trackers they each carried. All of this combined with the added stigma of Aokigahara almost completely ensured that his hideout would never be found. Kakashi wondered how Tsunade had managed to find this information but knew it was a pointless question since she wasn't likely to give up an answer.

They currently were surveying the coordinates their Intel had given them behind the cover of trees and bushes a good distance away from the assumed entrance. What looked to be a natural cave entrance was sunken into one of the many hills in the forest and according to their data this was where Orochimaru had taken up residence. Kakashi looked down from his viewpoint several meters high in a tree and the only indication of a human presence he could see were the broken twigs left by foot prints that they had observed on the way in as well as a few narrow tire tracks. Otherwise all was quiet, there wasn't a single noise or light coming from the cave that they could see. Kakashi scanned the entrance one more time and then looked up at the setting sun before he returned to his group.

"Okay team were going to wait here and make camp until tomorrow. I know you're not happy about spending the night, neither am I. But even with our night vision goggles I don't feel comfortable relying on them with such a difficult terrain. Be prepared we most likely won't be able to see a foot in front of your faces tonight so we'll need to have everything in place before sunset and won't be able to move without getting lost. We should be close enough to detect any movements by the enemy if they discover were here and try to leave or make a move, but i'll doubt they'll do either during the night. Once it's time to move were going to set Sasuke and Sakura up at the entrance, Sakura your job is to get us through the door, once you do that Sasuke will take the lead and you'll give him back up, Neji and Hinata I want you guys to go scan the perimeter and see if you can detect any other exits or entrances, if you do then when they go in each of us will be stationed at one to take down anyone trying to escape. After we give Sasuke and Sakura about ten minutes to observe the inside situation we wait for their call to see if we should go in after them otherwise we met back up from the outside. Is that understood?" They all nodded in unison, though each of them was wary about spending the night in such a place. Kakashi didn't show it but even he was feeling the weight of being here and was itching to get this mission over with as soon as possible. But the safety of his team outweighed any feelings or superstitions.

"Good, then Neji and Hinata, go make your rounds. Be quick about it, it'll be dark soon and if you don't return we won't be able to look for you until the morning. Sasuke and Sakura set up camp here while I keep watch." Neji and Hinata nodded before dashing off in opposite directions, the Hyuugas were by far the best reconnaissance team anyone had ever seen. It's like they could see through walls, hell maybe they could with their freaky eyes. Sasuke got to work marking out their perimeter and setting up various barriers and traps for anything that might try to come near them. Sakura was doing the same from above as well as going over Sasuke work after he was done just like he did hers. After they were finished Sakura got to work taking care of dinner and rolling out the bedrolls (though he doubted anyone would be sleeping tonight) while he leaned back against a tree trunk and gazed up at the sky, his thoughts once again returning to his dream.

_I thought you would save me..._

How? How could he possibly have saved him when he didn't know who or where he was or even if he was real! Plus you can't contact people through dreams! That's crazy, sure you always hear people saying 'nothings impossible' but the very idea that he can make contact with this boy through dreams!? He laughed to himself that would be-

"Hey Sasuke, do you want to go over our strategy for when we get inside?" Sasuke dropped his gaze from the sky and found himself looking directly into Sakuras eyes. She was smilingly at him warmly and if Sasuke was a different person he would have smiled back, but because he was who he was all he did was stare.

"What's there to go over? We get in, we fight, we find Orochimaru, we fight again, we may kill or die, if we don't we gather all the evidence we can find, and then we get the hell out of there." He yawned "You have my back and I'll have yours just like always" He finished, Sakura blew out a breathe and then nodded

"Yea I guess you're right, we've been team mates forever, our moves are already in sync to the point I can almost tell what you're going to do before you do it" She said this all quietly as if reassuring herself that they did at least have this bond, then she held his gaze for a second longer "But… It's because we've been teammates for so long that I can tell…Something is off with you Sasuke. I noticed in the car and it hasn't gone away. Whatever it is it's throwing off your concentration. I know you don't want to talk about it, especially with me, but before we go in there tomorrow you need to have your head on straight. This battle is going to be tough, Orochimaru is not an easy opponent, I need to be able to count on you" She then quickly turned and walked away, not wanting to hear whatever Sasuke was going to say next.

Sasuke just stared after her, taken back by the tone she had used and the words she had said. Sakura almost always spoke to him in an annoyingly flirtatious voice and never did she criticize him or go against what he said. The fact that she did so now let Sasuke know that his mood must be seriously off. He had to let this dream stuff go, there was nothing he could do about it now anyway. He leaned his head back against the tree and tried to clear his mind

_Sasuke looked around the dark room, waiting for his eyes to adjust, this room was different than the other but still familiar. Sasukes eyes looked around the room a sense of dread pooling low in his gut. He glances up at the two man made skylight holes in the ceiling as well as the torches until his eyes finally focused on the center of the room. His stomach turned when he saw the hospital type bed surrounded on the sides by tables with instruments and on the bed was-_

_"Naruto!" Sasuke move toward the man and took in his unconscious form. He was dressed but his clothes were caked with blood, some of it dried and some of it fresh. His hair was slick with sweat and blood as well and his breaths were uneven and ragged as though his lungs had collapsed. Sasukes hands hovered over his body uselessly, he had no knowledge of medicine and didn't know where to begin. Would he hurt him more if he tried to help? He ran his hands through his hair in frustration trying to decide his best course of action. Sasuke was unused to this feeling of panic and rage inside him, his first instinct was to wake the blonde haired idiot up and force him to say what happened_

_And who Sasuke had to hurt for putting him in this state_

_Shaking the random thought from his mind he leaned down._

_"Naruto" He said in his friends' ear, his eyelids fluttered uselessly but he showed no other signs of waking. "Naruto" He said again putting more force behind his voice. Naruto moaned_

_"Sasuke?" He said in a low voice before slowly opening his eyes. Sasuke watched his gaze move around the room before finally landing on him. "Sasuke" He repeated, his face showing his confusion and also his relief "What are you doing here?"_

_"That's not important. What happened to you? Who did this?" There was a slight edge to his voice put there by his barely leashed anger. Narutos eyes seemed to be growing heavier_

_"Why do you care...Leave me 'lone" His eyes were slowly closing, Sasuke reached out and shook his shoulder while being concious of his injuries._

_"What's his name Naruto?" He asked again, Naruto's eyes briefly focused on his_

_"I don-" There was a thunk outside the door, they heard voices moving closer toward the room. Naruto's eyes widen in panic_

_"You have to go" He said "You have to go NOW" He reached out and shoved Sasuke's shoulder just as the door cre-_

"Sasuke" A soft voice calledfollwed by the gentle pressure of a hand on his shoulder. Sasuke sat up with a start and turned toward Hinata in a daze. She looked back at him, the worry clear in her expression

"Um Kakashi wanted me to wake you and tell you that we didn't find any other entrances or exits to the hideout. So when you and Sakura go in tomorrow we'll all be stationed at the main entrance and will follow you in." She whispered, he nodded still groggy and disorientated from his dream. Hinata started to move away when Sasuke stop her

"Wait Hinata, can I ask you a question?" Her pale eyes watched him carefully as she sat down and waited. Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous gesture he hadn't used since childhood, unsure of how he wanted to start this. "Well, this is going to sound strange but, have you ever heard of someone being able to contact another person… through dreams?" He asked. Hinata leaned back slightly and Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that her expression was thoughtful and nonjudgmental. He knew he was right to ask her over anybody else. Hinata never judge anyone, he didn't think she had a cruel bone in her body the only time she every acted violent was when the situation called for it.

"No I can honestly say that I haven't." Seeing his downcast expression she quickly added on "But just because I personally haven't heard of it doesn't mean that it's not possible, no matter how impossible it sounds. There are somethings in this world that can't be explained" Her eyes flickered, something moving in their depths before disappearing.

"Yes but the most realistic answer would be that dreams, no matter how vivid, are dreams that you yourself created in your own mind. Even if there are things that can't be explained 99.9% of the time the realistic answer is the right one" She nodded slowly

"I wouldn't say 99.9% but a good majority yes" Sasuke turned his head away from her and stared out into the forest. He knew all of this, he was one of the most realistic people on the planet. So why was he even asking? Still… it wouldn't hurt to look up Naruto's name in the system when he got back from this mission. The name couldn't be that common, maybe he had heard it somewhere as a child and clung onto it? If he could figure out how his obsession had started and where the dreams were coming from he could get some peace.

"Sasuke…" he turned back to her his eyes caught in her questioning gaze.

"Hmm?"

"You know if you ever have a problem you can come to me." She offered her soft voice tinged with steel. He almost smiled

"Thank you Hinata" He answered and they remained staring at each other, after a few moments she looked down and he watched as she played with her fingers for a while before once again looking up

"Well… is that all you had to ask me?" Sasuke paused, for a moment he was worried that she was hinting that she wanted him to ask her out but when he looked closer at her face he realized that he was making her nervous and that she wanted to leave but was too nice to just get up and go like other people would. He smirked it wasn't often that Sasuke had females wanting to leave his presence.

"Yes Hinata, you can go" He could almost feel her relief as she quickly got up and moved away.

Sakura stood nearby in the shadows where she had been listening to the whole conversation, first out of jealousy that Sasuke would want to talk to Hinata over her but the more she heard the more her jealousy faded and gave way to just plain confusion. It had been a weird conversation to say the least. Why had Sasuke asked Hinata advice about dream communication? Why had he asked Hinata advice about anything? Sasuke was a very private and highly intelligent, she had never heard him ask anyone for advice. He usually took what others had to say and then made his decision on his own in his own time. Everything about Sasuke today was different, but even with his increasingly erratic behavior he had to have had a good reason to ask Hinata what he did. Sakura thought about the conversation again... dream communication. As far as she knows it's impossible for two people to be able to connect through dreams. But as she had said before Sasuke must have a good reason for asking about it which means he has likely experienced something recently that has made him curious about the ability. What could have possibly happened that made Sasuke of all people question something that was so... absurd?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Kakashi dropping soundlessly from a tree above. "Alright everyone let's move into positions, and make sure it comfortable 'cause you'll most likely be stuck in them for the rest of the night." Silently they shuffled to their bed rolls that she had placed in a circle so each individual was facing outward to some part of the forest. They were about four feet away from each other and would lay (if anyone was planning on sleeping tonight that is) with their heads inwards. She had designed it this way as more of a comfort than for security, if something attacked them they were mostly more prepared than they were. Sakura settled on her own which was placed in between Sasuke and Kakashi. She watched as her obsession (because really what else could they call it) came over and sat on his own not glancing in her direction once. With a sigh she tried to ignore how hurt she felt, she should be used to it right?

"Sakura" Her head snapped to the left and almost collided with Kakashi's, their faces were barely a centimeter apart, her lips almost brushing his. She pulled back blushing like a school girl while Kakashi just raised an eyebrow and maintained his position resting on the balls of his feet peering at her.

"Can I help you?" She hissed

"I know how you feel about him but trust me when I say that the only thing that lies down that road is more heartache and loneliest. Uchihas are the most bull headed group of people you will ever meet, in all things including love. If they want it they take it. I'm sorry I know this hurts you but Sasuke does not want you." She could feel the rising heat in her cheeks both from embarrassment and anger

"And how would you know?"

"Easy if he wanted you, then he would have you" With that he pulled back while simultaneously bringing up one of his "romance" *cough* porn *cough* books up to shield his face and shuffling over to his roll. She huffed her face still red with embarrassment Kakashis words ringing in her ears. How would he know? Maybe Sasuke didn't know what he wanted until it was shoved in his face a few times? He did raise him he probably knows better than you... Sakura waved away the thought. No Sasuke would love her, he had too. Finally having his affection and admiration had driven her for so long that it had to work out in the end. If it didn't she wasn't sure she would know what to do, winning Sasuke and his love was the only goal she had... Without it who was she? Her thoughts and the forest growing increasingly darker she turned toward the trees and settled in for a long night.

0.0.0

"Team" Kakashi called Sakura rose blerry eyed from her sleep "It's time" Wordlessly they all gathered the supplies they needed before circling around him. "We've waited long enough, I want everyone to fall into their positions. Neji and Hinata didn't see any other indication that there was a separate escape route. It's a little suspicious so I'll remain out here even after Neji and Hinata follow Sasuke and Sakura in to make sure that no one tries to escape or follow and block you guys in. Is there any questions?" Silence "Good then let's move"

Sasuke and Sakura fell into step beside each other and began to move soundlessly toward the entrance. Years of team work had made them so in sync that they didn't even have to look at each other to know where and what the other was doing.

_Were perfect together, moments like this just proved it, why can't he see that?_ They reached the entrance and after a quick look around Sakura couldn't detect any trip wires or other traps set in place around the door, they had already checked the area before hand for video cameras. This is all very suspicious she thought as she cautiously moved toward the door, she put her hand to the outskirts of the door and felt around for any sort of device that if, by opening the door, she would alert their presence. She felt nothing so she bent down and began to work on the lock itself, after a few minutes of her slowly moving all of the tumblers into place she tried the handle and the door slide smoothly open. She held her breath and waited to see if she could detect any movement inside, she half expected an army of soldiers waiting for them but she saw nothing. This is easy... way too easy. She nodded to Sasuke and they both slide into the tunnel and began to move down the torch lit hallway. They moved slowly at first, listening for any sounds that would indicate were Orochimaru might be within the hideout.

"...does it seem really... quiet to you?" Sakura asked. Sasuke had been thinking the same thing, he hadn't expected to hear tons of people having a party but he had at least expected footsteps or guards by now.

"This place it feels like it's been abandon" He answered "Like it was abandon a long time ago" He and Sakura continued to move down the hallway until they came to a fork

"Which way do you think?" Sakura asked she was beginning to feel like this mission was a lost cause and that they-

THUNK

Both Sakura and Sasuke turned toward the crashing sound

'What was th-" Another loud boom sounded through the tunnels. Sasuke began running down one of the dark stone torched lite hallway toward the sounds. The hallway seemed to stretch forever with no end in sight, after a while his blood was pulsing loudly in his ears and his lungs burning. As he ran he chased away the eerie feeling that he had done this all before, that he had been through this exact same hallway and done the exact same thing, but that was impossible. He continued his fast paced run even as his legs began rebelling at the punishing pace he had set he refused to slow. He was on a mission, he had to find Orochimaru and bring him to justice, and the snake had to be in here somewhere. Sasuke could almost feel his presence but he knew he was running out of time, he might already be too late. He continued running and running before coming to a stop when the hallway once again split into three different directions. Shit, now what? He didn't have time for this

_He needed him_

Sasuke shook his head, again shaking off the feeling of deja vu. Where the hell had that thought come from? He heard Sakura come up behind him breathing just as hard as he was.

"Shit" she gasped "What way do you think he is?" They both looked at each individual tunnel trying to search for any indication as to where Orochimaru might be. As they search Sasuke heard a faint cry coming from the tunnel on the left.

A groan carried down the hallway and Sasuke paused, focuing on calming his ragged breathing as he listen harder to try and determine the direction the sound was coming from. It felt like countless hours ticked by while he waited, even though in reality it wasn't longer than a minute, then finally he heard it again a creaking sound followed by a slam. He turned to the left and almost unconsciously set off at a pounding run, once again ignoring his protesting muscles, his heart racing, he heard Sakura cry out behind him before she too broke into a run, not wanting to leave him alone without back up.

_He had to find him NOW_

Finally he saw a door at the end of the hallway and ran full speed at it, for the first time in his life not caring about traps or trying to analyze all the outcomes of the situation before he acted. His heart in his throat when he finally reached the door and pushed it open, feeling a rush of relief when he discovered it to be unlocked. He glanced around the dark room and waited for his eyes to adjust. Then he saw him on the floor, pale and thin with his blonde hair plastered to his face by sweat and blood.

He took in the room that he was so familiar with even though this was his first time here, everything was exactly as he imagined it. He glanced down at the passed out boy once again. Even as he continued to stare at the real life version of Naruto his mind struggled to gasp what could not be possible.

"Who's the guy?" he heard behind him, he turned his eyes wide, panic and confusion plain on his face causing Sakura to gasp.

"You see him too?" He asked, Sakura's shocked gaze remained on him only flickering away for half a second to verify that the blonde man wasstill on the floor before returning to his face.

"If we're talking about the passed out blonde in the corner then uh yea" She answered

Sasuke moved toward him and knelt down staring at the mans' face, his breath caught in his throat, his features looked so familiar but there was no way... Finally his eyes opened and Sasuke was awed by the spectacular shade of blue that looked back at him. The man parted his cracked lips before the corners turned up into a smirk, Sasukes heart twisted at the sight.

"Took you long enough" his voice was cracked "Bastard" then he promptly passed out. Sasuke sat there staring at him in a daze, he felt Sakura come up behind him

"Do you... know him?" She asked. Sasuke just stared and stared and stared waiting for either the man to disappear or for himself to wake up but neither happened.

"This is impossible" He muttered but the longer he looked at Naruto, the more he began to realize that this was no longer a dream

This was a reality.


	5. Chapter Three

_Naruto is real, he's right here in front of me_

No matter how many times he repeated the phrase it still, three days later, didn't seem real. Ever since they had found Naruto his brain had been in a slow shut down and reboot process while it tried to wrap his mind around what shouldn't be possible. After Sakura had confirmed that the boy in front of him was not a figment of his imagination he hadn't been able to form any thought beyond _What the fuck_. He has always been a logical person, he believed there was always a sensible reason behind everything, some sort of fact or process that explained how and why events took place the way they did. Which might have explained the way he reacted following his discovery, which was he didn't react at all.

To anything

Sakura had been worried, he distantly recognized her calling his name and snapping her fingers in his face but his brain had been too busy looking for an explanation that would make sense of his connection with the blonde to pay her any attention. Eventually she had given up and examined Naruto looking him over and accessing his injuries. She was still doing this when Neji and Hinata came bursting into the room both of them quickly assessing the situation before asking what was the new plan. Embarrassingly his brain still wasn't functioning and he had stared blankly at the both of them while Sakura had given the order to pick up Naruto and have him escorted back to Konoha to be treated and questioned. There had been a quick debate about whether they should restrain him or not but given the state of his injuries they ruled him out as a threat. Hinata had then knelled down in front of him (he was still on his knees staring at the wall) and asked if he agreed with their next step and was ready to move. Sasuke absentmindedly nodded, numbly climbed to his feet and followed the three out, his body running on auto pilot and his stare never leaving the passed out man that Neji had over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. They had regrouped with Kakashi and explained the situation. His guardian had also tried to talk to him and had received nothing more than nods and blank stares before he went in to do a quick sweep of the base himself to be sure nothing was missed before they headed back to the car. Neji and Kakashi taking turns carrying Naruto since Sasuke was still verbally unresponsive.

_he's real..._

His eyes traveled over the still unconscious form of the man on the bed before him with various hookups running from his body to machines. The only noise in the room the steady beeping from his heart monitor and the slow inhale and exhale of his breathing. No matter how long he stared at him and tried to come to grips with his new reality his brain had yet to come up with any logical reason that explained the presence of his 'imaginary' childhood friend, there connection, how any of this was possible. Before they had found him he had just started to come to terms that Naruto have been a person he passed on the street or saw on TV and he had just latched onto the image and name. Sure once in the deepest parts of his mind had he thought that all of his conversations and memories with Naruto had been real but he had ruled that out as being a traumatized and lonely child. But this... this was too detailed, he looked exactly like the Naruto from his dream the same day of the mission, the cell was exactly the same and the recognition he saw in those blue eyes, it was all real. He rubbed a hand over his face and closed his eyes, all of the past conversations with Naruto running on a loop through his mind

_'I think that means were supposed to be friends'_

_'They're hurting ME, please don't leave me here alone, please… I don't wanna be alone anymore' _

_ 'Please Sasuke, don't leave me in the dark alone' _

'_Naruto you know… if you ever need me, I'd come'_

_'I never left'  
_

_'You promise?'_

_'Took you long enough'_

_'I promise'_

"FUCK!" He exclaimed before leaning forward and hiding his face in his hands, as if hiding would save him from the onslaught of guilt he felt in his chest. Seven years… he has been tortured and god knows what else for seven years… while he had done nothing but ignore him and his pain. And still his mind clung to the fading hope that the man in front of him just resembled the man in his dreams, that their was some other explanation but he knew that it wasn't true. For the first time since the year of his families murder he felt the urge to scream, once again he had let someone he cared about down, once again he hadn't been strong enough to go save them, once again he left them alone while he went to run and hide.

"Mind if I crash your pity party?" A voice said from the door way shaking him from his thoughts, he sighed knowing who it was with out having to turn around.

"Yes I mind. Leave." He replied without raising his head. Of course in typical Kakashi fashion he ignored the request and sauntered into the room plopping down on the only other available chair.

"Still hasn't woken up huh?" He asked reaching over and poking the blonde in the cheek with a finger. Sasuke smacked the hand away and glared but otherwise didn't respond. Kakashi only shrugged and leaned back in the chair crossing his legs at the ankles and running his gaze over the blonde "Must've been through quite a lot to sleep for three days, but considering the extent of his wounds, both past and present, I wouldn't expect anything less" Sasuke barely managed to hide his wince, the mention of Naruto's condition when they brought him in causing the stab of guilt to become even more painful. When they brought him in the doctors had informed them that Naruto was suffering from a concussion, lacerations to the head, back and thigh, multiple shallow wounds to the chest left there by a blunt object, bruised ribs and possible internal bleeding. Upon further inspection and x-ray results the doctors were floored by the number of healing bones, scars and tissue/nerve damage Naruto had sustained and lived through. To top it all, there was also an inch wide somewhat faded scar that went all the way around his neck, leading them to assume that he had once been collared and the material had cut into his skin. It was nauseating and only made his throat tighten even more with the suppressed screams and growls bought on by the rage over what had been done to him, from the time he had been a defenseless child.

He noticed the silence in the room and realized that Kakashi had been looking at him, waiting for some sign that he had heard.

"Hn" He gave his customary grunt. Kakashi relaxed seeming satisfied with this. Sasuke wondered at this for a moment but figured his guardian was worried that he had once again gone catatonic, not that he could really blame him given how he had acted on the way home.

"Well you staring at him isn't going to make him wake up any faster, you've been here for two days Sasuke. You haven't slept or eaten and by gods man you stink, I'm surprised the smell of you alone hasn't jolted him awake" He felt his lip curl into an almost smile, he was probably right. The team had brought Naruto straight to the ANBU hospital and Tsunade had met them there. They had given her a quick debrief and once they had passed the blonde over to the doctors the team had been given the ok to go home. And everyone had except for Sasuke. Something wouldn't let him, he couldn't... wouldn't leave Naruto again. At least not without finding out some answers. He also knew that if he went home he would just drive himself crazy waiting for news about whether or not he had woken up and when they could speak. No it was easier just to stay with him in the room. But considering that he hadn't had a shower since before the mission and that had been days ago he could only guess how bad he smelt. Huh maybe that why all the nurse are in such a hurry to get out of the room. Kakashi leaned forward placing his elbows on his knees before he continued on

"Also we have a report to give to Tsunade, I have held her off as long as I can because of your obvious mental state but she isn't a patient woman and to be honest she scares me. When she called me to her office this morning and demanded that I get her answers I swore to myself I would bring you to her kicking and screaming before I had to face her again. So are we going to do this the easy way… or the hard way?" Sasuke almost laughed at him, there was no way that Kakashi would win against him in a fair fight, he had surpassed him years ago. If he had been in a better mood he would have been difficult on purpose just to see his old guardian try and force him to do anything but he was tired. With a sigh he pushed up out of his chair and with one last look at Naruto turned and walked to the door

"Let's go" He walked out of the room nodding to the guards stationed outside the room before turning and walking quickly down the hall to the elevator not even bothering to check and see if Kakashi was behind him. He pressed the button to call the elevator

"I'm tempted to take the next one, the idea of being in an enclosed space with you right now is not all that appealing" His guardian mumbled. Sasuke grunted and turned his head to see that Kakashi was standing a good five feet away from him. He smirked tempted to throw an arm around his neck and pull him into a choke hold but the elevator dinged before he could. They both walked in, Kakashi hesitated for a moment before making a show of taking a large breath before stepping inside. Sasuke went through the normal security procedures before pushing the button for the ANBU floor. The hospital located in the same building as headquarters but several floors lower and was only used for the suspects that they didn't trust in a low max hospital around civilians. They rode the rest of the way in silence reaching the floor rather quickly. Kakashi ran out and pretended to gag and suck in air while Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked to Tsunade's office. Kakashi had caught up with him by the time he entered.

"What the hell is that smell?" Tsunade exclaimed holding her noise and waving papers in front of her face. Sasuke rolled his eyes again, honestly it couldn't be that bad. It was just a little sweat and being an ex-surgeon he was sure his boss had smelt way worse. But in hindsight he probably should have showered before he came to see her, if only out of respect. All he had wanted to do was get this meeting over with and get back to Naruto, eager for the blonde to wake up and give him the answers he felt he had waited years for.

"What the hell Kakashi? Who brings a subordinate to meet with their boss when they smell like a garbage dump?" She grumbled grabbing a can of febreze from under her desk (usually used to cleanse the smell of alcohol from the room) and began to spray the air in front of her as she scowled in his direction. His eyebrow twitched as he was engulfed in the artificial smell of a summer breeze. Only his desire to keep this meeting as short as possible , as well as his job, kept his usually sarcastic mouth in check.

"You asked me to deliver him to you and here he is, you never said I had to wash and change him too" Kakashi replied in a bored tone. Tsunade sent a sharp glare in his direction with an evil twitch in her eye and he feel the waves of rage coming off her. If he had been anyone else he would've began to fear for Kakashi's life, instead he was tempted to sit down, kick his legs up, and enjoy the show. Kakashi must have realized the immediate danger he was in because he rushed on to add "With all due respect, I should have thought ahead and it won't happen again" an unspoken**_ Please don't hurt me_ **following the sentence. With a heavy sigh Tsunade turned away from him (He could see Kakashi sag in relief out of the corner of his eye) and directed her full attention back to him

"I've waited long enough, you know why you're here get on with it" She barked, with a sigh he began his break down of the mission

"We arrived at the suspected hideout of Orochimaru just before sundown on the first day. Given the terrain and that we were unfamiliar with the area we decided to wait for daylight before we infiltrated the base. Before settling down for the night the Hyuugas scouted around the perimeter to check for other entrances or exits but couldn't find any indication of one. We stayed station until just before sunrise and then we moved into position. Sakura and I were to be the first wave, with her breaking through the door and me leading the charge in. She got through the door relatively easy and we began our search for Orochimaru and/or any of his associates. Upon our first few minutes with in the base we started believe that it was deserted given the lack of noise and any sign of life. The hideout itself was a huge maze of tunnels that seemed to stretch forever and we decided to follow the one that appeared to have the most foot traffic. After about twenty minutes of running our previous conclusion that the hideout had been abandon and had been for some time seemed to be correct. We were about to call in the others to do a last minute search before pulling back when we heard a load crashing sound echoing through the hallways. We hesitated and tried to locate just where the sign was coming from and what it might be. Then when we heard the sound again we hastily moved through the tunnels toward where we believed it to have originated . We came to a tunnel that had the door at the end of it and when we open it and looked inside we found a small room with Nar- the passed out blonde in the corner" He paused there, he could tell from looking at her face that Tsunade had noticed the slip and was deciding whether or not to comment.

"And this would be the part were the rest of your teammates said you became unresponsive and lost all usefulness for the remainder of the mission is that correct?" He clenched his jaw at the accusation but gave a firm nod, unable to deny anything. Tsunade sighed and leaned back in her chair "Would you care to explain what brought about this temporary psychotic break?" Sasuke shifted his weight unsure how to answer the question without sounded even more insane.

"I... I would like to but I'm afraid I don't have all the answers myself. Yet" Tsunade raised her eyebrow

"Well give me what you have" Again he fidgeted, he had never been in a situation as.. embarrassing as this one before in his life. After a few minutes of awkwardness he spoke.

"It's going to sound crazy, but I swear I've met that boy before... in my dreams." The silence in the room was deafening and he had to fight off the blush that was threatening to take over his face. After a few second he could've sworn that he could hear Kakashi start humming the song from Sleeping Beauty and almost turned around to kill him.

"Let me get this straight... you think that this boy and you somehow established contact... through your dreams?" He gave a slight nod "And why... How do you think this is possible?" Sasuke had to suppress a snort, if he had the answer he would've given it to her instead of sounded like an idiot.

"I don't know but I have a feeling that **he** might" Tsunade continued to examine him for a while longer, confusion clear on her face. She appeared to be having some sort of internal debate, probably whether she should lock him up in the psych ward or not, before she sighed.

"Well your right that does sound crazy but I guess we can't fully discount your theory until the boy wakes up. For now you are on temporary leave until we resolve the matter at hand. That does not mean you take a vacation. You are to stay in the city until we figure out just what's going on here." He gave a quick nod and turned around walking swiftly to the door more than ready to leave the office, he felt Kakashi fall into step behind him.

"Not you Kakashi, we have a few other things to discuss." He smirked imagining the look of displeasure on his masked face as the door fell close behind him. Walking to the elevator he sniffed himself and decided that he could afford to go home and take a shower before returning to the hospital wing. He saw Ino make her way towards him only to stop a few feet away and hold her nose horror plastered all over her face. Then again, maybe he could use this to his advantage.

* * *

Kakashi watched the door fall close behind Sasuke and waited a full minute before he turned around. Tsunade was still in the same position, sitted quietly behind the desk staring vacantly at the spot that Sasuke had just occupied. He waited a few more seconds before he spoke.

"Yes?" he asked quietly, watching as she blinked before focusing on him. She stared for another moment before leaning forward and resting her elbows on the desk and rubbing the tips of her fingers over her forehead circling her temples.

"Do you believe any of that?" She asked quietly, he waited and gathered his own thoughts before responding.

"I know that when Sasuke was younger he had increasingly vivid dreams, so vivid that he would cry out and inflict harm on himself while he was asleep. It got so bad I had to call in outside help to repress them. After that was done he slept peaceful and grew up to be the emotionally repressed man we know and love today." He briefly remembered the boy Sasuke had been and tried to find any trace of him in the man he'd grown up to be. Not for the first time he wondered if he had done more harm than good, but at the time it had seemed like his only option. With a sigh he continued "I only asked him once what his dream was about and he told me he imagined his friend... Naruto I believe is what he called him... being tortured and that it felt like he himself was being tortured right along with him. And when he described the boy to me he did it with such detail. It was uncommon for a dream to be describe with this level of clarity. The boy he describe bares a striking resemblance to the man in that bed downstairs, at least what I assume he looked like as a child" He stopped there, not because he didn't have anything further to say but because it looked like Tsunade was having a hard enough time working through what he had already given her. She turned in her chair and stared out the window, a gesture that he knew she did when she was deep in thought.

"This is all very strange... This dream nonsense on top of the fact that the hideout was abandoned with only the boy left behind is all is very suspicious. Why they would leave him, what did they use him for, why was he tortured, all of these question are left unanswered. Then when I put together all of the reports, especially Sakuras, she says that there were no traps leading to man, the door was unlocked, and Sasukes reaction when he saw they boy as well as what was said. I have to worry that he's a plant or some sort of sleeper agent. Then we have to take into account Sasuke's supposed emotional connection with him stretching back to childhood... it worries me. I would discount my fears if we weren't dealing with Orochimaru a man I've learned to never underestimate" Kakashi nodded his head in agreement, many of the same thoughts had already crossed his mind.

"The possibility that this was all a set up and the boy a plant seems likely" He muttered

"But a set up for who I wonder... and what exactly does he hope to accomplish?" With a sigh she leaned back in her chair and pushed the button hidden under her desk that opened the sliding panel hidden behind a two way mirror on the other side of her office. With a brief nod to Kakashi both Hinata and Neji stepped out, Kakashi merely raised an eyebrow not all that surprised that she had them monitoring the conversation.

"Did you see anything that indicated he was lying?" She questioned, the cousins shared a quick glance before Neji turned to speak.

"Nothing i could detect, he honestly believes this boy and himself have a connection through their dreams" Noticing that Tsunade's face fell he continued "Were you expecting something different?" She shook her head

"Something a little bit more believable than dream communication would've been preferred" With a sigh she dropped her head back against her chair "Just what are we dealing with" she mused mostly to herself.

"I think our best course of action would be to question the suspect and keep him detained" Neji stated his tone leaving no room for argument. Tsunade nodded, thinking it over before sh once again faced her subordinates.

"You're right that would be the best course of action.. But were not going to do it" Silence.

"What?" Neji was in an uncharacteristically argumentative mood she noted before she went on to explain.

"It's predictable and exactly something that Orochimaru would expect from us. I'm sure he has already put in safeguards to account for the situation. No I think we should take the less expected route. Observation and then release" She braced herself for the fall out

"You want to release an unknown threat on this city?! Are you insane? We have no idea what this man is capable of!" Tsunade glared at Neji, her look clearly letting him know that while she was going to let it slide this once he would do well to remember who was in charge.

"Exactly! There are too many variables. What if this boy is a plant what if he wants to be detained and questioned by you two as well as Kakashi. I will not have your abilities exposed before we fully know the threat. Right now according to all official channels and everyone outside of this room Kakashi's eye is useless and yours only do the bare minimum. I refuse to play all my cards before waiting to see at least one of his." Usually she wouldn't explain her motives this far but with the risk of the plan she would have been disappointed if her team didn't show some hesitation.

"But this is far too risky" Neji scowled crossing his arms tightly across his chest, his rigid posture showing his displeasure.

"I agree it just isn't ethical we haven't even talked to his boy yet we have no idea of his mental state" Kakashi finally decided to interject, shocked by what she was proposing.

"I didn't sense any malice from the boy when he was in our company but-" Hinata began

"Oh you mean when we were carrying his ass through the jungle?! What did he have to be angry about We were doing all the work!" Neji snapped interrupting Hinata's speech

"Let me finish" She sent a quick glare toward her cousin "As I was saying the boy himself didn't seem to have any evil intention but sometimes during the trip I would get a sense that there was something... Other that did"

"I don't understand" Neji murmured unsure of where she was going. Hinata and Tsunade shared a meaningful look

"I think its time we brought Shikamaru's team home. Also Neji i'll need you to take a quick trip to Suna"

* * *

_Well I guess I have to go in eventually_ Sakura thought to herself before she walked into her next patients room. When she wasn't assigned to an active ANBU mission she worked on the hospital floor utilizing her nursing degree. At one point she had wanted to become a doctor but then she met Sasuke and she put that dream on hold. There would be plenty of time for school but who knew how long Sasuke would be on the market? Though it seemed if he had it his way it would be forever. After her twenty-four hour reprieve following the Orochimaru mission she returned to the hospital to do her rounds and noticed that the John Doe on her list and their mission rescue were one in the same. She had put off going to see him, why she wasn't entirely sure but she had a feeling that she needed to be more... emotionally prepared before she did so. With a determined stride she walked over to the bed and gazed down at the man lying there. He really was beautiful even with the gauze wrapped around his head. The striking blonde hair, strong jaw line, crystal blue eyes that had still shined in the dim light of the tunnel and dangerously attractive scars marking his face and neck gave him the appearance of a fallen angel ready to tempt you to sin. Despite the results of his x-ray and examinations that conclude that he had been a victim of abuse and possible torture and him being a little on the scrawny side, he looked relatively fit with obvious muscles apparent on his frame. Everything that she observed about this man confused her, the obviously tanned skin even though we found him in an underground tunnel that appeared to have been abandon for quite some time, the muscles on his frame, the fact that he wasn't nearly as malnourished as expected, his injuries both past and present when we saw no other living being in the cave and no other escape route.

_The way Sasuke reacted when he saw him_

If she was being completely honest with herself that is what shook her the most. Never had she seen Sasuke anything less than calm, cool, collected and in charge. Its part of what attracted her to him, when she was an emotional wreck he was her anchor. To see him with that look of confusion and panic on his face, coupled with his inability to speak and reason for the remainder of the mission was alarming. Did Sasuke know this person? If he did then how? Unable to help herself she leaned even closer at the man as if seeing him up close would give her the answers she was looking for. Part of her was hoping he would wake up and tell her what she wanted to know right here and now.

"Just who are you?" She mumbled her gaze trailing over his face.

"Sakura" She jolted up right and swung toward the door, her hand going up to curl against her chest as if that would stop her racing heart. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks and it only worsened when she saw a freshly showered Sasuke staring at her from the door way. "What are you doing?" He asked, she laughed nervously, it sounded fake even to her, and rubbed the back of her head.

"I was on rounds at the hospital and his name was on my chart. I came in to chart his vitals and see if there was any change in his condition. But I guess my curiosity kind of got the better of me" She laughed nervously again. Sasuke just continued to stare at her before he shrugged and walked into the room, sitting down in the chair on the other side of the bed

"Whatever" He looked down at the man and again she saw it, only for a moment it but it's there, a tiny flicker of emotion in his face. Then he looked away, pulling a book out of his backpack and flipping to a random page. She glanced from the backpack, to the book, back to Sasuke and around again. Is he going to… stay here?

"Sasuke" She called

"Hn" He flipped a page, not even sparing her a glance

"Um what are you doing?" eyebrow twitch

"Waiting" She repressed a snort. No shit Sherlock.

Waiting for what?" his grip on the book tightened

"For him to wake up" She could hear the irritation in his voice but if he would just stop being so difficult than she wouldn't have to keep asking so many questions

"Why?" with a sigh he lowered the book and looked at her

"Because I want answers and he's the only one who can give them to me" Then he lift the book once more and began to read, signaling that the conversation was over. With her own sigh she turn back to the machine and began charting his vitals, taking his blood pressure, charting his heart rate and checking his Morphine drip. When she finished doing that she turned to Sasuke again.

"I'm sorry Sasuke but I'm going to have to ask you to step out of the room" He looked at her and she could tell that he was surprised by the request even if the only change in his expression was a raised eyebrow.

"Why?" She huffed and placed the back of her hands on the her hips.

"Because I have to examine his other wounds which involves me taking off his gown. Because of this allowing you to stay would be a breach of his privacy and since he has not been awake to identify you as either family or a friend you are not allowed to be here." She watched as he processed what she had just said, then with a defeated slump in his shoulders he got up and silently left the room. Relieved that he didn't try to fight her on this she quickly got back to work and started to examine his wounds. She moved to lift up his shirt and take off the gown grunting under his weight. Once his torso was uncovered she started to take off the gauze and tape over his wounds, moving quickly she pulled back the first one only to have the gaze fall from her fingers when she saw what was underneath. She stared in shock, blinking over and over again

"No way" she whispered then hurried to take off the other bandages and they all show the same result. The wounds had healed without so much as a scratch left behind. Thinking that maybe it was because these were listed as being only shallow cuts and he could just be a fast healer she started unwrapping the gaze around his head and once again the area was closed with only a faint scar in its place. She began flipping his body this way and that tearing at all the gauze only to see the same results over and over again, even at his deepest wounds on his back and thigh. She stepped slowly away from the bed, pieces of gauze and tape still hanging from her lifeless fingers.

_That isn't possible_

She dropped the material on the floor and grabbed her chart reading over the patient notes. She checked his medical chart again just to make sure and as she thought those wounds had required stiches. There was no way that they could have healed this quickly. He gaze drifted to the patient once again, trying to see if there was anything else that was weird but he looked like a normal 20 something year old man. With limp fingers she began to make a note on her chart when her gaze caught on a marking on the patients torso. Confused she stared at what looked liked a tattoo around his navel, some kind of tribal design that for some reason seemed vaguely familiar. She walked toward the bed again and lowered the sheet more to get a better look at it, _where have I seen this before_? She brought a finger up and lightly started to trace the design as if in a trace only to cringe and flinch backward. She looked at her finger her eyes widening when she saw that it was red and starting to welt from the heat of touching the burning tattoo. Her legs were rooted to the ground in shock and her brain seemed to freeze unable to handle so many impossibilities in such a short time. She was still standing in the same spot when she thought she heard something... ominous that caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand up. Glancing up she looked around frantically, did she really hear- a faint demonic laughter seemed to whisper around the room. Again she turned in a full circle checking all the corners around her even glancing in the bathroom but it was just her and the man in here and he hasn't moved an inch since she arrived. Breathing heavily she was beginning to wonder if she just imagined it when she heard it again, louder than before. Now she was only thinking one thing-

**RUN**

Terrified she quickly pulled the patients gown up, careful not to get any closer to the tattoo then she had to and grabbed her chart before running out of the room as fast as she possibly could.

* * *

"Sakura!" Sasuke called after the fleeing girl. She either didn't hear him or chose to ignore him and continued running down the hall like the devil himself was on her heels. He stared after her, never having seen her look as panicked as she just had. What could possibly make Sakura react like that? He looked at the door flung wide open and still vibrating with the amount of force that Sakura had used to fling the thing open. He considered chasing after to her and finding out for himself what had her spooked but decide against it. He could always find out later and Naruto was the more important problem at the moment. With a sigh he picked up his bag and walked back into his room. He paused at the foot of his bed his eyes taking in the room to see if anything was out of place, beside the amount of gauze on the floor everything seemed to be perfectly normal. With a sigh he bent down and picked up the material throwing it away and washing his hands. He would have to talk to Sakura later, what ever had scared her was no reason to be so unprofessional and leave the room a mess. He turned around and for the first time he realized that there was no gauze wrapped around the blondes head. He walked closer and bent down to look at his scalp only to see a faint scar where the wound had been. Weird, he could have sworn that he had been bleeding profusely from it only days ago. With a shrug he sat back it must not have been as deep as they had thought. He sat back down in his chair and resumed reading, or pretending to read he should say. There were too many unanswered questions running around in his head to even begin to focus on the book in front of him. Admitting defeat he closed the book and switched his focus back to the object of his distraction.

It never failed that every time he looked at him, he was shocked by the fact that Naruto looked exactly the same as he did in the dreams. It's seeming more and more likely that the man in the bed and Naruto were one in the same, and as crazy as it sounds. That they were somehow able to connect with each other through their dreams and that at one point when he needed him most he had abandoned him. He didn't know whether he wanted him to wake up or stay asleep, because he knew as soon as he did there was a chance that he would confirm everything he was just beginning to realize. And Sasuke wasn't sure if he was ready for that. Either way he needed to hear him say that he was Naruto, and some sort of proof, before he fully accepted this crazy idea. He needed to hear him say it.

Hesitantly he reached out and took his hand, surprised at just how warm it was in his own. This was the first time he had ever really touched him, he had been holding back before because his mind had still been at war over what he was seeing, and touching him would have been too much. He looked down at their joined hands, his relatively smooth the others covered in faint scars and felt his chest become tight.

"Naruto... I'm so sorry"

The hand he was holding squeezed around his own. He glanced up from their interlocked fingers and into a pair of burning blue eyes.

"Sasuke"

* * *

**AN: And here begins the branch from the original Dreams vs Reality story line. As you probably gathered Sasuke isn't going to have as easy of a time with Naruto as he did in the original fic. Any ideas on what his first reaction to seeing Sasuke in the flesh will be?**


End file.
